


Of the Sky

by auspizien



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Body Modification, Human Experimentation, Impel Down, M/M, Torture, Winged Vinsmoke Sanji
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2020-12-28 06:14:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21131999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/auspizien/pseuds/auspizien
Summary: For the past four years Sanji has been stuck in the bottom of Impel. He'd been tested on, experimented with, and tortured in every way he thought possible. But when he escapes and runs into a certain green-haired man he finds that the evil runs deeper than he could possibly imagine...[Modern AU][Art Included]





	1. Rebirth

**Author's Note:**

> This a rewrite of an old fic I started writing about eight years ago. I want to officially finish it, however I felt like I couldn't continue from where I left off without going through and editing the fic since it has been so long haha
> 
> I won't be changing much. Just fixing stuff as my writing style has changed over the years, and touch up some areas where I find people out of character, or the dialogue to be a little... cringy? (I started writing it when I was like fifteen, so some of it is... hard to look at hahaha).
> 
> So please bear with me as I post these updated chapters :) and I hope you enjoy the fic!

~X~

"If you were born without wings,

do nothing to prevent them from growing."

\- Coco Chanel

~X~

A steady beeping whispered across the eerie silence of the dank room. Its cadence a haunting metronome that kept time to the beat of his life - each rejuvenating pulse of his heart - rather than that of a peaceful melody. Beat thrumming through his lethargic body and swimming beneath the surface of his malnourished skin; the cacophonous pounding deafening his ears before being followed a moment later by the shrill chirp of the machine.

Eyelids sliding open with confused weariness, Sanji's blurry vision took in the sharp metal of the ceiling above his sprawled body. Through the haze he could see the fuzzy outline of a bulbous light shining down on him, its luminous glare stinging his eyes, and causing him to blink furiously to squint through the brightness. Shadows danced around the corner of his sight as his lashes distorted the room, and he only faintly made out the movement of something to his right.

He moved to sit up and found himself restrained. Jerking his leg, he found them both bound securely, as were his arms, and the rest of his body. Leather straps tightly secured him to the table, even a strap across his forehead and chin kept him from moving his head. Strips of leather that were cinched around his bony wrists and even tighter across his gangly legs.

The figures in his peripheral drew nearer and Sanji began to thrash in his bonds the best he could despite how weak his body felt. Panic began to rise and he tugged desperately at his restrained wrists – the leather merely cutting deeper – the feeling of warmth trickling down his arm confirmed that the had broken skin. It took him only a moment to realize what was going to happen next.

"Let me go! Let me the fuck go!" Sanji yelled at the two men looking down at him, "I'll chew through this fucking leather and kill you!" He jerked his wrists as he hissed venomously, "Fucking let me go!"

One of the men lashed out and roughly grabbed Sanji's jaw, thumb and fingers painfully digging into his cheeks in an attempt to hold it open. Clamping his mouth shut tight, Sanji remained unwilling to comply, even as the pain increased. Rough, gloved fingers ground into the tendons near the back of his jaw, kneading tirelessly as Sanji resisted.

"Open your mouth, you little shit."

Sanji shook his head as much as the straps would let him – gritting his teeth – refusing to let them have their way. Whatever intentions they had were likely highly unpleasant, and even if his struggling was ultimately futile, there was no way he was going to make this any easier on the men. He had survived this long in this wretched hellhole, and no amount of torture was going to break him.

Something cold was pressed against his neck, and there was the click of a button being pressed before he opened his mouth and screamed – electric anguish lashing down his veins – his body desperately trying to jerk away from the pain, but was lashed down tight by the leather. Familiar sparks of fire coursed through his body and had him convulsing long after his parched throat was unable to utter another scream.

When the electrical current was shut off, he couldn't find the energy to fight the hand which grabbed his jaw tightly and forced his mouth open. He barely was able to concentrate on what the other man was doing. The edges of his vision blackening as he was slowly losing consciousness.

A plastic tube was shoved into his mouth and partially down his throat and he thrashed, struggling desperately to spit it out. His body still wasn't responding; after the shock, and how weak he already was, his fight was useless. Sanji took rapid breaths in through his nose, still trying to gag up the plastic.

Through his peripheral he could see one of the men pick up a large needle, he flicked it a couple times before pushing the syringe until a few drops of liquid oozed from the top. He then set it down before picking up another, repeating the routine. The other man was busy checking through all the needles already secured into Sanji's arms as well as the intro-venous sacks hanging around him.

Sanji's eyes widened as he stared down at the dozen or so IVs that were injected into him. Each tube had a different colour solution within them; from neon greens to vibrant blues, blood reds and bright oranges, to supple purples and pasty blacks. All were slowly draining from the sacks hanging around him and into his body. He tried another desperate jerk, but none of the needles were even close to being dislodged.

The man returned with a large beaker of murky white solution and began to pour it down the tube, when Sanji felt it begin to trickle down his throat he renewed his efforts. Trying desperately to cough up the tube only made it worse, and it wasn't long till he was unable to draw any air into his lungs. The liquid was cutting off all oxygen, he thrashed as stark panic began to claw at his innards.

He couldn't die.

Not like this.

Tears of exertion poured from his eyes and pain pierced his chest as it was deprived of needed oxygen. His eyes rolled back into his head, darkness engulfing his vision, just as the tube was roughly torn out of his mouth. He was left to gag on the horrible tasting liquid before he was completely claimed by unconsciousness.

~X~

Sanji was snapped awake by the feeling of his shoulder colliding with the stone floor, his lethargic body sliding uselessly on the hard floor as his skin easily tore open upon impact. He lay there, blood flowing from his wounds, limbs unresponsive and his eyes barely focusing ahead of him. The uneven concrete going in and out of focus as he was distantly aware of the clanging of metal and click of the lock.

So, he was back in his cell?

The stone was cold against his skin, but it helped numb the throb of his wounds. He let out a tiny sigh and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds that had lulled him to sleep for the past four years. The sounds of fellow captives in their cells; screaming out as nightmares shook them awake, or pained cries as they underwent transformations or failed tests.

Shuddering breaths; so loud in the dank cells that they echoed easily. Each man, woman, and child – huddled alone in their cell – nervous exhales wracking their frames as they wondered when they'd be taken for testing. Each person listening for the dreaded foot falls of a man walking down the hallway, praying to whatever god they had that they would not be chosen.

The screams from upper floors echoed down as other captives were tortured, or tested on – it was always difficult to tell which was which. Machines constantly whirring up above, a light hum that was ever constant and sickeningly reassuring that everything was the same as when you had gone to sleep the night before.

Sanji vaguely wondered what time it was. Or what day.

Month?

Year?

It had been four winters, that he knew for sure. The lower cells hardly defended against the temperatures of the world outside and became even more dank than usual, the vents carrying a winter chill. As horrible as it was, Sanji embraced it as it was the last reminder that the real world still existed beyond these stone walls. Though sometimes he questioned if perhaps it was all a dream, the world he once remembered?

How he desperately wished to go outside, just one more time.

A weak cough rattled his malnourished frame and clawed its way out of his throat, skin raw from all his earlier screaming. However, the pain grounded him enough to drag himself back to reality and his slowly failing body. He tried to open his eyes and found them too heavy to follow his command.

It was then that he felt it; his breathing was quiet and small, his body barely moving with each tiny breath, his heart beats - that were so loud in his ears - were so tortuously slow, and his body was the best it ever felt, completely relaxed, devoid of pain.

Was this death?

A small, weak sob wracked his body, his regrets slowly piling up in his mind. His life had barely begun before he had ended up in this prison, and now it seemed that the prime years of his life had been spent wasting away in a cell. There was so much he had yet to do, wanted to do.

And this was it?

A regretful sting of unshed tears lanced across his closed eyes.

His old life had seemed so dull – too normal. And there had been a time when he'd have given anything to have adventure. But now, that life seemed truly the best gift of all, and he'd give his hands, his legs – anything – just to go back for one more day. One last day to walk down the sidewalk of busy suburbia, bump into fellow pedestrians, smell the noxious gas of passing motorists, go for coffee at the local café. Things that he had taken for granted were now the utmost luxury.

Sanji let out a heavy sigh and shifted ever-so-slightly, trying to ease some of the pressure on his bloody shoulder. A sharp twinge of pain shot up his back and he grunted quietly. Seemed like he'd also injured his back somewhat. He tried moving again to ease both back and arm, but the pain only doubled.

His eyes snapped open, and he took in a shuddering gasp, hand gripping at the skin just above where his heart should be. Each thump he felt in his chest felt like it was pumping something foreign into his body, a hot liquid that burnt his insides. Spreading further with every beat of his heart. As he stared at his arm and he could see each beat of his heart, the skin pulsating.

Or was that just his imagination?

Sanji's body emanated pain, skin feeling like it was being torn away from his muscle, and his bones aching, as though each one was being put under incredible pressure. Spine and shoulders aching the most, the bones feeling like they were about to break.

Barely managing to pull himself up onto his hands and knees, he panted with exertion as he stared at the ground in horror, body trembling. There was something inside him that wasn't him. That wasn't supposed to be there. It felt so inhuman and wrong he wanted to claw at his skin until it left him. Whatever he had ingested – whatever that liquid was – it wasn't meant to be in a human.

Electric fire pumped through his veins reaching every part of his body. It corroded his bones, gnawing and chewing on them like a starving mutt; it wound itself into his muscles, squirming and nestling deep like slimy maggots, and his skin began to sizzle and itch, as though he was being cooked alive. With each passing second it fused deeper into his body, and as Sanji felt it begin to pierce his organs he doubled over and retched violently.

Supported by his elbows, he held himself up, body quivering, the foul taste of acid in his mouth as he took in deep, shuddering gasps. His body was covered in a heavy sheen of sweat, and a thick strand of the white saliva infused concoction trailed from his mouth. Blinking several times, he focused on a black stone on the floor, trying to gather his thoughts.

After vomiting, the pain seemed to diminish somewhat, and he was able to take in much larger and calmer breaths. His whole body continued to throb with pain, but it was bearable. Just as he felt reassured that the worst had passed and that he had survived the bastardized experiment – a small tingling could be felt at the base of his spine.

It slowly traveled up his spine becoming more painful the higher it climbed, inching further and further up each vertebrae, the pain growing the higher it traveled. It reached the base of his neck and a sudden fiery pain lanced through his head; with a final agony riddled scream he slammed his head forward on the cold floor, knocking himself unconscious.

~X~

Consciousness crept over him like a disease, slowly infecting him and forcing him back into reality. Eyelids slowly sliding open as he stared at the filth coated cement floor that he had grown accustomed to seeing. After years of waking up to that same floor it had become a somewhat bittersweet sight. Part of him took comfort in the notion that he was still in his cage and alive - that he hadn't been dragged off to be tested on – but another part mourned the sight, knowing that he was still trapped inside the dank hell.

As he moved to push himself up, he froze.

Something was different; _he_ felt different. The pain he had experienced the night before and all the wounds that had accumulated felt better. In fact, his body currently felt like it hadn't in years and as he glanced down at his arm and gasped, he nearly toppled over at the sight.

Extending his arms out in front of himself as if they were something strange and forgein, he stared down at his once malnourished, skeletal arms that seemed to have undergone accelerated muscle growth overnight. Skin looking healthier than it had in years, muscle which had long ago deteriorated had formed again, and he found himself filled with an inexplicable energy.

Sanji pushed himself onto his feet while staring down at his body which looked like it had before he had been brought here – as strong and healthy as it had four years ago. Testing out his arms and legs he found movement to be an easy task whereas before walking had been somewhat of a challenge. He let out a laugh of both amazement and disbelief.

Twisting to get a better look at himself, he froze when he felt something twinge on his back; like a muscle that was stiff, or a scab that had just formed. Suddenly all the excitement drained out of him as his throat became parched and a cold sweat began to dampen his palms. He had been so caught up in his euphoria he had neglected the presence of something very wrong behind him.

Reaching back tentatively, he touched his shoulder, freezing in horror as his hand met the unusual lump that should not have been there. It was soft, but even the light pressure he put on it hurt. As his hands explored as much as he could with his arms bent backwards he soon discovered two bulbs that had grown until they covered his back entirely, each one taking up half the expanse.

With each movement he could feel the skin stretching and whatever was inside seemed to squirm and writhe with life. Whatever was on his back – that had grown overnight – wanted out. His stomach began to tighten at the feeling and he soon found himself once more on the floor, coughing up the remnants of gastric acid in his stomach. Besides that, his stomach remained empty, and he found himself dry-heaving.

The sensation slowly passed, but he remained on his hands and knees, head beginning to swim from nausea and pain. Frowning, he blinked as he concentrated his focus on the floor. Desperately trying to keep himself from hyperventilating as he could feel the skin on his back slowly give out. The seconds ticked by, seeming like hours, panting as he waited for the moment.

In a sudden jerk, the skin tore, ripping apart and falling away from his body, as the two things emerged from his back. A liquid that had been in the bulbs splattered out, drenching him and everything around him. He remained curled up on his knees, biting his lip as pain ripped through his body. His entire back stung, now raw and bloody.

Murmuring voices permeated through the pain ringing in his ears and Sanji struggled to raise his head to look up at the two scientists out in the hall, one with a camera and the other, a clipboard. They were muttering to each other as one was furiously scribbling away.

"Bastards." He managed through gritted teeth.

Remaining on his hands and knees, body shaking in exertion and pain, drawing in shaking breathes as he began to become fully aware of the presence now behind him. Whatever it was, he could feel them, like any other part of his body; the joints felt cramped, the muscles stiff, and the cold air of the cell caused them to tremble.

Casting a tentative look over his shoulder he froze.

The appendage came into his vision; a large, grotesque wing that was easily larger than himself, was slightly expanded, and with a quick glance to his left he saw the other matching one. The large expanses were covered in feathers that were drenched in a sticky liquid. The same liquid which was currently running down his back, and that had been in those weird pods.

Sanji tentatively imagined stretching them as he would imagine extending his arm and on cue they followed his command. Both wings, which had before been folded behind him, stretched up and out high above. Spanning as much as they could in the cramped cell, the feathers on the wings having strands of the liquid strung between them, the sticky substance dripping from some.

He flapped them experimentally, flicking some of the substance off of them. With a few more flaps the wings looked remarkably cleaner – although they still had a thin layer of the pink goo – and they appeared to be a brilliant white underneath.

Sanji pushed himself to his feet – a little unsteadily due to the sudden weight ratio that was affecting his body – but nonetheless upright, before casting a glare to the men outside who watched him seriously. The one had completely forgotten his clipboard as he watched Sanji with something close to awe. He ignored them and turned his attention back to the wings.

The crowns of his wings were easily over his head, and the tails dragged lightly on the ground. He reached out tentatively, touching one. The feathers felt natural, albeit wet and sticky, and his mind felt the touch to the wing. As he continued to massage the feathers and the muscles in the wing the pain slowly started ebbing from his body and he found himself becoming calmer.

He pulled his hand away sharply - shaking his head - it was too weird, trying to process these sudden feelings. In his mind he had always known each appendage with a casual familiarity, but now... Now his brain processed these sudden attachments as if they had always been present. His nervous system seemed to have expanded, and it felt all too natural. A fact that was unnerving.

The cage opened with a clang and two grunts entered – the official bodyguards and muscle of this hell hole – they came toward Sanji, their blue cloaks swishing ominously and their electric wands swinging menacingly from their belts. Sanji took a step back as they neared.

It seemed the experiment had been a success; but now where was he being taken?

A hand roughly gripped his wing, and he hissed sharply at the men, before one of the electric wands was brought down sharply on his arm, giving him a burn. He struggled further, trying to wrestle out of the men's grips, until a stronger current hit him and left his muscles weak and spasming. Stumbling over his own feet, he slumped into the guards waiting arms.

Sanji was bodily dragged out of his cell and off down the hall. He was vaguely aware of his surroundings as he was carted off, but much of his thoughts were still a jumbled mess from the electric shock. It was like attempting to put together something that kept jumping and moving around and he could never hold on to one piece for long.

All the hallways looked similar, metal siding that had gotten blackened and tarnished with blood over the years. Occasionally there was a door behind which screams were partially heard. After years of being put through his own personal hell, Sanji could only imagine the testing being done to others in this wretched place.

They enter a rickety elevator that reminded him of something out of a horror movie and he giggled. The shock still seemed to be affecting him somewhat because he found that once he started he couldn't quite stop. This whole place was like a horror film, worse than any he had seen by far, but the fear that had engulfed his body and mind upon first arrival was now gone. After months of enduring fear that was physically painful, everyone eventually succumbed to the knowledge that they would eventually die within these walls.

As the metal grates slid closed, the elevator rose toward the higher levels and Sanji's giggles finally ceased. And he just hung limp like a doll in the men's arms as they awaited to reach the desired floor. With a sharp ding and a jolt they came to a stop, and the sliding of steel on steel rang out as the doors opened once more. Sanji was dragged along several more dazingly similar hallways until he was brought to a rusty door which looked like all the rest labelled; 5907.

It was unlocked and he was hastily brought inside to a rather quaint tiled room with shackles in the center, a drain, and several hoses hanging on hooks nearby. He was deposited on the floor and continued to stare off into the distance, his thoughts still not quite wanting to return to any semblance of order. A sharp clack and a cold tightness around his ankles brought everything back together in full clarity far too quickly. Sanji stood immediately and glowered menacingly at the men who were coming toward him with cuffs for his hands and neck.

One man brandished a long wand, the end crackling with electricity. Sanji immediately shied away from it out of pure animal instinct, not wanting to experience the pain again. When the men attempted to cuff him he reluctantly let them as he watched the wand with a nervous eye. The men finished and backed away as Sanji snarled angrily, baring his teeth and lashing out at them with his wings; only mildly amazed at how the wings instinctively reacted to his emotions.

They backed away rather quickly and Sanji smirked lightly.

The chains jerked to life and were pulled taut; his arms were stretched up and away so his entire body was exposed. Forced back onto his feet as he slumped in his chains weakly and let his arms take most of his weight, his wings swishing back and forth ominously behind him as he awaited whatever they had planned.

A sudden icy blast hit him from behind, water spraying and washing away all traces of the weird goo from his wings and back, as well as the blood that had been there due to his torn skin. The power of the spray stung his sensitive wounds and he jerked angrily, trying to arch away from the source of his pain. He hissed as they seemed to notice his discomfort and only turned it up stronger, blasting the cold water at his injured skin. His teeth dug sharply into his lip, piercing the skin, blood running down his jaw.

His back soon became numb and he could hardly feel the pain or the icy water, and he just let himself hang from the chains as they cleaned any and all filth away from his body. The main blasts shifted to his wings and Sanji watched the pink tinged water swirl around his feet and flow away to go down a drain.

The spray eventually stopped and he was unshackled. A pair of clean pants were thrown his way which he hastily put on before he was immediately shackled again; hands, feet, and neck. A grunt grabbed the chain attached to his neck and lead him out of the room like a dog. He followed reluctantly knowing that if he struggled he'd just be shocked and potentially strangled by the chain on his neck.

There was only so much struggling he could do before it wore him out. And while it was rewarding to make them have to work every step of the way to make him do what they wanted; he had just received something akin to a bath and clean clothes, things that he hadn't seen for nearly four years. So just this once, he was going to be somewhat obedient.

As he was guided down various hallways and up stairways, he actually took in everything. It was the first time he had been so far away from his cell in years. Mostly, he had just been taken to the testing floors where he'd been given shots and weird experimental foods before being sent back. But up here, even the air smelled cleaner.

They stopped outside a rather clean door. The guard swiped his card key and with a click the door released and they pushed inside. It was a modest laboratory with multiple workstations adorned in random assortments of equipment, each in various stages of completion. Most were innocuous vials and concoctions, but Sanji had learned from experience that even the most innocent of potions could cause the most adverse side effects. 

One time such a shot of peculiar liquid had managed to cause all his hair to fall out while also making his skin feel as though it had been set on fire. Not to mention it had been a wonderful mixture of multi-coloured fluids that had somehow managed to cause him to sprout wings. So as far as he was concerned this room was probably one of the most terrifying places to be in all of this hell.

Dragged further into the room, the guards guided him past the work benches and towards an examination table on the far end of the room. A cold sweat started to break out over his skin. Heart already racing in his chest as the sight was enough to get him panicking. The leather straps and containment devices on the bench setting him on edge and without even meaning to his wings began fluttering in agitation as he wanted to turn and run. However, the notion was taken from him as a shattering of glass had him, and everyone else freezing in their tracks.

Confusion riddling his features, Sanji turned in time to see the mess of shattered glass equipment on the floor as well as a number of fluids seeping into the grout of the tiles. Unfortunately, even as he turned to inspect the mess, his wing instinctively rose out of his way to allow him to see and he bumped another table causing a second cascade of glass to go shattering onto the floor.

In a panic, Sanji tried to gain control of himself, but once he started panicking it was as if he had become a bird trapped in a small cage and he couldn’t stop his wings from lashing out to try and stable himself. Knocking more stuff over as he tried to stumble away, turning towards the guards and managing a feeble, “Shit! I’m so sor--”

The remnants of his apology were lost in a pain filled scream as not one, but two electric wands met his exposed torso and he went down in a slump of twitching limbs and choked gasps. Arms curling into himself as he tried to get a grasp on his body, fighting back the flames licking at his brain. If he had gotten a blast of current like that a day ago - before his body had rejuvenated like this - there was no doubt in his mind he would have died.

Once the tremors stopped, Sanji cracked open an eye and looked up to see a doctor now standing over him. Looking mildly annoyed, but not enough that he seemed like he was going to jab Sanji with another round of electricity. The rushing of blood in his ears faded enough that he was able to make out the man as he addressed the guards.

“Careful. Careful!” The man’s high pitched voice could be heard admonishing the guards, “He’s a potential asset; we can’t have you damaging him _ now _.”

Biting his tongue to keep from scoffing at how ridiculous the statement was, Sanji instead just focused on pushing himself back to his feet and keeping his wings firmly folded against his back. Even if he wasn’t going to get shocked again, he refused to bring any more attention to himself.

Once the doctor had finished telling off the guards, one of the grunts made his way over and quickly removed all of Sanji’s shackles. Then he and the other guards left, all except for one who remained by his side with another one of those menacing electric wands.

Finally turning his attention on Sanji, the man gave him a once over before turning and with a lazy flick of his hand, ordered, “Over here.”

Padding after the doctor, Sanji let him guide him over to the table, and after an inviting motion to sit, clamoured up onto the table. Watching the doctor silently as he snatched up a clipboard off a nearby table and approached Sanji, flipping through his notes. The scientist pushed a button on the top of his clipboard and began speaking to himself.

"Subject No.19114109; Aviation Unit. Regular injections of endolymph[1], testosterone[2], biphosphonates[3], and teriparatide[4]. As well as daily anti-biotics. Vitamin C and D supplements triple normal GDA. And..." The man flipped a couple of the pages over and tapped something written hidden from Sanji's view, "Epidermal infusion of cDermo-1[5]."

The man walked around to the other side of the table to get a better look at Sanji’s wings and Sanji noted the keycard at his hip read Dr. Caesar. Sanji quietly snorted as he found it odd to give a name to these monsters. Caesar finished his assessment and came back around to stand in front of Sanji. "Says here you've had regular injections to stabilize your vestibular system to accommodate your recent appendages. Also says you've had several other medications for cognitive and muscular enhancement. Sound correct?"

Sanji just sat and stared, he had honestly only understood a handful of the words this man had said. The confusion on his face must have shown because an annoyed tick started near the man's eye. He abruptly pushed Sanji's chest, Sanji began to tumble backwards but recovered with a quick, and unconscious, flap of his wings, before he watched Caesar carefully.

"Equilibrioception seems adequate enough." Caesar spoke to the clipboard and didn't seemed fazed anymore, "Subject is able to walk and move with relative easy, no overbalancing or movements equating to improper weight distribution." He checked something off before grabbing a handful of feathers and harshly yanking them out.

Sanji winced but restrained himself from doing anything. Attacking and being troublesome to guards was one thing, but attacking a doctor or scientist was a one way ticket to a world of pain that he didn't feel like being part of at the moment. Caesar made a small noise and checked something else off, "Nociception seems fine. How have you found them so far? Movement easy? No cramping?"

Sanji shook his head, "No problems."

"Subject admits to proprioception being of proper standards. Testing should reveal any abnormalities or irregularities resulting in termination."

At the mention of 'termination' Sanji scowled, he didn't like it nor did it make him feel comfortable in the current situation. What would they be terminating? Him? His wings? Fuck, they probably would kill him if he was just a failed attempt. Then they'd fill his cell with another poor sap to undergo the same treatment.

Placing the clipboard aside, Caesar once more motioned for Sanji to follow him, and lead him across the room towards one of the many domineering machines. Keeping his mouth shut, Sanji went along with it. More than willing to be cooperative if him proving himself as an ‘asset’ would keep himself from getting killed anytime soon.

For the next couple hours Sanji was subjected to every medical procedure and test that could’ve possibly existed. They x-rayed him and his wings multiple times and he was pretty sure the massive machine he had been in was for an MRI. After that it was scans and scans, needles and more needles, so many samples Sanji lost track of what they had or hadn’t done.

Each test had made him feel less and less like a person. And more and more like the piece of property he had become to these people. After what seemed like hours Caesar finally seemed satisfied with all the data he had collected on Sanji, and he was dragged off to be returned to his cell. He had never looked forward to his cell before, but now he wanted nothing more than to curl up in his cage and sleep.

The walk back was uneventful, and when they arrived, the cage was unlocked and for once he was not roughly shoved to the ground. Instead the guards let him walk in by himself before locking the door. Sanji snorted quietly, before making his way over to the far wall and taking a seat on the cold floor. It seemed that now that he was a success they were going to be a little more gentle with him.

_ Fucking fickle assholes. _

Glancing down at his side, he assessed where he had gotten a particularly large burn, and let out a low growl as the grunts finally walked out of sight. Thumbing across the marks that were already beginning swell into small, pus filled boils. Sanji refrained from scratching at them.

"You okay, son?" 

Wings jerking open in surprise, at the same time Sanji jumped at the voice. Turning to see an old man through the bars in the cell next to him as his wings continued to flutter nervously before slowly coming back to fold calmly behind him. They were becoming an annoying tell into his emotions.

“Sorry.” Eyes calmly watching Sanji’s wings, he eventually looked back at the blond, “Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Shaking his head, Sanji murmured, "It’s okay." A smile crooking his lips as he admitted around a hollow laugh, “I don’t quite have them under control.”

“New, are they?”

A twinge of something nauseating pinched his guts, but Sanji forced himself to ignore it. Not quite ready for any more retrospection at the moment. “Yeah.”

The man remained silent for a while, long enough that Sanji started to think that maybe that was the end of their conversation. He cast a wary glance over to the man, and this time took a decent look at the fellow whom currently sat with his head resting back against the stone wall. Long, silver hair adorned his head and fell to tangle with an unkempt beard that ran the length of his strong jaw, and despite being old, he wasn’t nearly as malnourished as the initial lighting had led Sanji to believe.

When the man finally spoke it was very gentle and kind, "They're quite beautiful, you know."

Sanji snorted and brought his knees up to his chest, holding them tightly as his wings unconsciously curled around his body. Letting out a huff, he grabbed the appendage and threw it aside, but it seemed instinct brought it back around himself once more as some form of comfort. He gave up on trying to control it for the moment and turned back to the man, "That's hardly a consolation. But thanks anyway old man."

The man laughed - a hearty and warm thing - and it seemed so out of place in this cold hell that Sanji was left speechless. Watching as the man eventually tapered off his chuckles and turned to address Sanji, "I'm not that old. And I lived a full life before coming here." His voice lost it's humour, "Can't imagine the same for you though. How long you been here?"

"Hard to tell.” Sanji shrugged, still a little thrown at what a normal conversation he was currently having. He supposed he had forgotten, but when he had first arrived he had more energy to converse with his cellmates; the last couple years of being undernourished had caused him to pretty much lay useless in his cell. “This coming winter will be the fifth."

"Four years and still sane, I'm impressed son.” The man nodded thoughtfully, ”You got a name?"

"Sanji."

The old man smiled, "I’m Ray."

~X~

As the temperature dropped in the cell, and nighttime was presumably covering the outside world, a minion made his rounds delivering the trays of sustenance pills to each captive. It was the only routine in this place that let him keep track of whether it was morning or night. However, when Sanji heard the scrape of a plate being placed on the floor, he looked up, and froze at what he saw.

There were the usual pills laid out, but next to it sat a small chunk of bread. He remained curled up in his corner for a moment, just staring. When was the last time he had eaten real food? When was the last time he had swallowed something that wasn't a pill or some odd fluid?

Arms slowly unfurling from around his knees, he got up cautiously, and crawled over to the plate. The pills were the standard; hydration, protein, mixed Vitamin and mineral supplements. He bypassed them and picked up the bread, feeling the rough crust under his hands and hearing the crackle as he crunched it lightly in his grip. He raised it to his lips and took a small inhale before sighing happily.

Sanji took a savoury bite of the sweet bread, and nearly groaned with how glorious the small bit of food tasted. About to take another bite, but paused when he heard a small sound. He turned and saw a tiny girl in the cell next to his. She was drawn in on herself, arms hugging her knees to her chest, but her head was raised as she looked at the food in Sanji's hands with awe.

She was new.

Before Sanji had been dragged off to be tested on, another man had occupied that cell. Though from the look of him he had been in a worse condition than Sanji at the time. It seemed she was his replacement.

Sanji paused for only a moment before crawling over to the edge of the cage and proffered the bread to the little girl. She looked at it hungrily before looking up at Sanji. Her wide amber eyes looked strangely bright against her grimy face and tangled hair, they blinked up innocently as she refused to move.

"It's okay." Sanji reassured as he put his hand between the bars to extend the food further towards the girl, "You can have it."

Slowly – ever-so-slowly – she let go of her knees and crawled toward Sanji. When she was just in front of Sanji on the other side of the cage she knelt and placed her hands respectively in her lap. She didn't move, but continued to just watch Sanji silently.

"Do you have a name?"

The little girl was quiet for a long moment before whispering, "Toko."

"Well, Toko.” A warm smile lit up his face as he offered the bread to her once more, “It's very nice to meet you. I’m Sanji."

Eyes watching the bread hungrily for several moments, she eventually pulled away to look back up at Sanji and comment in confusion, "But it's yours."

"I'm a big boy." Sanji grinned, "You're still growing; you need to eat."

Toko took the piece of bread from Sanji's hand and held it with reverence before her hunger got the better of her and she took a large bite, "Thank you." she mumbled through a mouthful. Tears began to leak from her bright eyes, streaking her face as she continued to chew, "Thank you."

A heartbreaking ache tore through Sanji at the sight of the tears shimmering in her eyes and the trembling of her shoulders, knowing there was nothing he could do or say that could ever truly fix what she was going through. Reaching a gentle hand out towards her, he waited as she finished messily cramming another bite of the bread into her mouth before reaching out to put her hand in his. Tiny, cold, and shivering, it clung to his with a painful urgency as she slumped into the bars and pulled Sanji’s hand as close to her has she could.

Sanji’s hand remained slack in his horror over how desperate the kid was before he managed to shake himself and return the hold just as tight as he began shifting himself closer. Leaning against the bars, he managed to sneak part of his wing between the gap in the metal poles and wrapped as much of his wing as he could around the girl, reaching with his free arm through to gently stroke her hair. She was shaking from her withheld sobs – not wanting to draw the attention of any of the guards.

"It'll be okay." Hollow words spoken from a broken man, but in that moment he meant everything he said. "It'll be okay."

Minutes passed with her shaking into his arms, but she soon quieted down, nuzzling into Sanji's wing as she slowly ate the last of the bread with the occasional post-sob shiver racking her body. All the while holding onto Sanji’s hand with a tight grip.

Somehow having such simple human contact and conversation had improved Sanji's mood. Deep down he was boiling with rage that men would kidnap a child and torture her, but just being able to comfort her and make her feel safer was enough to make him feel human again. It had been so long that Sanji had been certain that this place had taken everything from him, but apparently they couldn't take his humanity.

"I'll be here until you wake up, okay?" He whispered gently as he kept stroking her hair. "I won't let you go."

With a soft murmur of acknowledgement, Toko nodded and curled into his feathers, small hand bunching around a tuft as her eyes already began to drift shut. She looked so innocent and fragile that Sanji wondered how it was possible for humans to exist that would want to hurt her.

Sanji cast a quick glance around their cells to ensure they would be left alone for a time. Gaze catching Ray’s who watched the two of them curiously, but said nothing as he returned to looking ahead of himself. Sanji finished his look about and then wrapped his other wing around himself for warmth, attempting to sleep as well.

~X~

A startling scrape had Sanji cracking an eye open to see a guard making his rounds delivering the morning’s supplements and water. The man sneered as he looked at Sanji who still held the sleeping girl as close as the cold metal bars would allow, but said nothing and continued on.

Sanji put every venomous emotion he could into his glare until the guard was well out of sight. Dropping into a much friendlier smile as the young girl began shifting in his arms as she awoke. Small hand coming up to rub at one of her eyes as an adorable yawn stretched her face.

As she moved, she accidentally tugged on a few feathers, forcing Sanji to muffle whimper. And wasn't that still just an entirely new and confusing reaction he wasn't used to having. Despite becoming accustomed to their presence eerily fast, he had a feeling that being consciously aware of them was going to take a lot longer.

Toko finished stretching and then looked up at Sanji, and he asked softly, “Thirsty?”

She nodded.

"Okay, go get a drink and I'll wait here." At her wary look, Sanji coaxed, "Alright?"

Nodding once more, Sanji gently released her and gave her back an encouraging push as she rolled onto her knees and crawled over to her own metal tray of water and pills. Grabbing the handful of supplement pills in a chubby fist and the cup in the other before coming back to sit next to Sanji. She popped the pills into her mouth without hesitation before taking a small sip of the water, shuddering at its taste.

With a slight grimace, Sanji asked, “Bit better?”

“Mm-hm.” Toko hummed, gazing over Sanji's own tray. No actual food this time. It seemed it was either a one off, or a nightly thing. "Are you going to have yours?" 

"I will in a moment," Sanji reassured, "But I'm comfortable right now."

"Oh," Toko nodded. "Alright."

"You okay?" Sanji whispered quietly, shifting as best as he could to keep his wing comfortably around her through the cell bars. The wing was a lot larger than he had initially realized, but luckily it seemed the appendage was flexible enough that once he had managed to slip it through the bars he had more than enough space to fold it over the small child like a protective cocoon.

Probably the only good thing about them...

Toko nodded once and took another sip from the tin cup, her tiny body jerking as it shuddered from the horrible taste of the muddy water. She stuck her tongue out and made a 'yuck' sound before setting the cup down and pushing it away. She curled back into Sanji’s embrace and they sat quietly; just as he started to drift off once more, a soft murmur had him jerking back upright.

“Sanji?”

“Hm?” Tilting his head down to get a better look at her, Sanji hummed around a fond smile. Adorable face peeking out from where she had buried it in his feathers to catch Sanji’s eye. “What is it?”

“I’m glad you’re alive.” Toko ventured quietly, a hand coming up to run through his feathers with a gentle caress. Absentmindedly playing with a few that jutted out erratically from the rest and attempting to straighten them out, completely oblivious the effect her words had had on Sanji.

It felt like a punch to the gut. 

Something so simple shouldn’t have been so monumental to him, but regardless it left him speechless. It was so long since he had thought his life was worth anything, that there was anyone even left alive that might miss him, so unconsciously he’d kind of just accepted that he had become worthless here. But to her, to this little girl, he had managed to mean something.

Forcing down the embarrassment that was constricting his throat, Sanji coughed and gave a soft affirmation, “I’m glad too.”

Her fingers stilled, “I… I thought you were dead.”

The tremor in her voice had Sanji’s arm tightening around her, and without even meaning to his wing curled in closer to belie his agitation. Other hand coming through the bars to offer it to her, and once she took it he squeezed her hand and gently asked, “What made you think that?”

"You weren’t moving." Toko whispered, "They brought me here and you were on the floor. You were asleep for so long, and then those weird pods started growing on your back. You didn’t move."

Sanji grimaced.

He couldn't imagine what it must have been like for her to be forced to stare at his unmoving body while thinking he might never wake up. What a horrible thing to put a child through. But something about it didn’t seem to be adding up, Sanji frowning as he enquired, "Hold on, how long was I asleep for?"

The girl's face scrunched up and she looked down at her hands, muttering to herself as she folded down her fingers. She paused once, and seemed to backtrack and then looked up at Sanji, "Nineteen days."

Resting back, Sanji looked down at the girl in shock. That couldn't be right. It had felt like a night's worth of sleep for all he knew. "What?!"

Nearly three weeks unconscious?

Well, it certainly would explain how fast the wings had grown on his back; and it would definitely account for all the energy he had upon waking up. Not to mention if he had been out of it for three weeks it would’ve given the chemicals more than enough time to regrow most of his atrophied body...

Toko seemed to sense Sanji's rhetorical question and instead said, "I like them though. Your wings."

Confusion still lacing his features, Sanji slumped back to once more comfortably hold the girl close. She'd stop shivering a long time ago and it seemed her body temperature was at least returning to something close to normal. Despite that, Sanji couldn’t stop himself from unconsciously running his hand up and down her shoulder to make sure she stayed that way.

"Thanks." Sanji muttered a tad offhandedly. Free hand coming up to scratch at his patchy facial hair as he cast a look back at the wing currently folded on his side of the bars, mind wandering as he admitted, "I'm still not quite sure if I like them yet or not."

"Why not?" Wide brown eyes blinked up at him in confusion, "They're so pretty. And you could fly away from here with them."

"Yeah. Yeah, I suppose so, couldn't I?" Sanji chuckled at the very thought, exhaling a sad breath on the last guffaw as he shifted and brought his knees up to his chest, "I don't really know if beautiful is enough though.”

“What do you mean?” Toko frowned, “Why don’t you like them?”

“Eh,” Sanji shrugged, once more not wanting to deal with too much introspection so soon after getting them. However, it seemed the little girl was not going to be pacificed, so he admitted, “I think they’re mostly just going to be a bad reminder of this place.”

"If they remind you of something bad, then you just have to find something else that they remind you of." Toko stroked the feathers gently, "Something that makes you happy."

Sanji watched the little girl in shock, the whole time he had been wanting to protect this innocent child, but in reality this place had made her adapt and mature much faster than she should of had to. Regardless, her words were wise and Sanji respected them.

"Well then, I’ll try to think of something.” Sanji reassured her with a smile, even if Sanji didn’t quite believe his own words, the smile he got in return from her was more than worth it. He supposed that if the only memory he had of them was keeping her warm, then that was good enough...

A sound drew their attention, and they both looked up to see a grunt standing impatiently outside Toko’s cell; cuffs and wand in hand. Toko stiffened slightly, shying away as the guard unlocked the door and took a step inside. Sanji could hear her swallow nervously as she seemed to be trying to get her shaking knees under her so she could stand.

"I'll be here when you get back, okay?" Sanji reassured her, giving her hand a quick squeeze. "I'll be sitting right here."

She nodded before bravely standing up and walking over to the door and let herself be cuffed and dragged off. Sanji watched her go and smiled brightly when she looked back, the small bit of encouragement seemed enough to make her able to continue down the hallway. Sanji felt something akin to a parent watching their child being taken away. He bit his lip before slowly turning to lay on his wing like a makeshift bed, waiting for the guard that would come by soon to take him.

TBC..


	2. Release

~X~

"You may not know where you are going,

but know that so long as you spread your wings,

the winds will carry you."

\- C. JoyBell C.

~X~

A sharp click of the lock had Sanji’s head snapping up as a guard stood outside his cell. An electric wand was poised in his hand and Sanji pushed himself to his feet without needing to be told. Approaching the door as it was swung open, and submitting quietly as shackles were quickly put on - ankles, wrists, and neck - under threat of the menacing prodder. Once done, he was then guided off down the hallway to the elevator at the far end.

They boarded and the guard tapped his key card before the lift jerked into motion. Sanji had no clue where he was being taken to, and last time he had been dragged off his brain had been too fried to pay attention to the route they had taken him on. He couldn’t fathom what else they had in store for him now.

_More tests?_

The lift stopped and the grates slid open to reveal a hall much like the rest in this place, and Sanji couldn’t have been able to guess whether this was the floor he had been on yesterday or not. Metal siding along the walls with the joints all held in place with massive rivets, here and there a large pipe ran along the ceiling funneling unspeakable things from room to room, and vents littered ceiling. It was as dingy as all the rest.

They stopped outside a pair of large double doors. Black paint decorated the exterior in a large decal that proclaimed F-04, and as the guard punched in a series of numbers, air hissed out before a series of mechanical locks clicked. With a final groan the doors swung open revealing a room like nothing Sanji had ever seen.

An extraordinary gymnasium. Green turf stretching out in all directions as the area had to at least be the size of a couple of football fields, and the roof was almost just as high; it really put into perspective how big this facility really was. 

Standing in awe for too long, he was jerked into motion by the chain at his wrists as the guards hauled him forward. Sanji stumbling into a stride as he followed after but his attention remained elsewhere. Wandering across the massive field as he noted that he was not alone; other grunts stood around with other test subjects watching them, with wands raised at the ready.

There was an area not far off that looked like an equestrian riding course and a horse was making its way through it – or what appeared to be a horse. On closer inspection the horse’s head was replaced with the torso of a man. Sanji nearly tripped over his feet as he stared at the weird creation.

_Was this the result of some of the experiments?_

Sanji looked around and spotted a man whose knees bent the opposite way. A woman's face on a lionesses body. A leopard with bipedal abilities. A wolf with anthropomorphic features. A bull with some transplanted human limbs. And even a man that had strange giraffe like features. With a chilling shudder, Sanji had to forcefully tear his eyes away from the abnormalities that were beginning to make his stomach churn. The inhuman creations were almost beyond what he could imagine.

Was this the extent of what this place could accomplish? Was there even more complex creatures and experiments hidden in this place? What else had they managed to do to people?

Sanji muscled down a shudder and forced himself to stop thinking about it as he was lead over to an area that seemed more devoted to aviation and height capabilities. Large posts of varying heights were positioned in random order with small square platforms at the top of each – Sanji had to crane his neck to see the top of some – they must have been at least thirty meters high. Additionally there were high bars and nets of the same heights.

Brought to a stop in front of one of the posts, Sanji found that the doctor from the other day was already waiting impatiently. He looked over Sanji in annoyance as the guards quickly went about removing all the shackles that had been used to transport him. As soon as they were finished Caesar addressed him.

"Alright," Caesar tapped his clipboard with his pen, "We're going to do some basic equilibrium and kinaesthetic testing to see if your wings will actually be able to allow you to fly. The first post should prove as a fair scale to how operational your wings are."

Turning toward the post that Caesar had mentioned, Sanji stared at it for a few moments before glancing back at the scientist, "What exactly am I–"

"Test your current strength.” Caesar sighed with clear irritation, “Jump to the top. You may use your wings if you can."

The post looked about seven meters tall and Sanji knew without even trying that there was no way he could jump that high; no one could. Logically, no matter what injections or medication they gave him it should just simply be impossible, but he supposed that if he didn't try he'd probably get hit with one of the wands he heard crackling behind him.

Sanji sighed in resignation, rolled his shoulders, and unfurled his wings. He beat them experimentally a few times, finally free of his cramped cell to be able to test their limits. They’d been stretched and prodded the other day when Caesar had been testing on them, but that had been the extent. Even when they had expanded in his cell, they had at most reached half of their limit, but seeing them now was enough to humble even Sanji.

Their expanse was astounding - easily three times his height - and as they extended the feathers along the bottoms flared out in a glorious fan. Stretching and flexing them a few times to really accustom himself to just how much power was hidden in them; feeling the muscles on his back - and what felt like newly formed ones along his torso - tensing in turn to accommodate the massive appendages. Even before he had ended up here he couldn’t remember a time when his body had felt so powerful.

With just a few flaps he found himself already feeling weightless; his feet coming off the ground ever-so-slightly before gently coming back to rest on the turf. Unconsciously, the wings spread forward as Sanji took a better look at them, and couldn’t help but admit that it seemed they were a lot stronger than he had initially thought - they weren’t just for looks.

_Maybe he could do this?_

Turning back to the post that he had been directed to earlier, Sanji scowled up at the thing as though it had personally offended him. Bouncing on the balls of his feet, he quietly psyched himself up while assessing what he was about to do. He supposed that he might as well see how high his wings could thrust him, but he wasn’t sure just how high that was. And if he went too high he might not be able to safely get down without hurting himself. 

_Now, or never..._

Running full tilt at the pole he steeled himself as he neared. Kicking off from the ground with all his might and instinctively snapping his wings down he launched himself at the top of the pole. With the added force of his wings he felt himself practically thrown toward the top platform, and he flailed before he bodily hit the trunk a few feet from the top. He immediately wrapped his arms and legs around the pole not wanting to fall from such a height and his wings fluttered behind him in agitation out of sheer instinct to try and balance himself.

With a couple controlled flaps, he managed to assist himself enough to climb up to the top and he kneeled for a few moments as he calmed his breathing. Glancing down at the ground below as Sanji still couldn't quite believe he had just jumped to his current height. The wings had definitely helped, but it seemed whatever they had done to make them had enhanced his body as well.

Pushing himself to his feet, he stood atop the platform and felt his wings happily spread out behind him in an accomplished flutter before settling on his back comfortably folded. Sanji still wasn’t sure why some of the actions came to him so involuntary, but he ignored them for now as he looked out and found he had a much better view of the room from here.

Many of the prisoners he had seen before were much easier to get a look at from here. Some had actually stopped and turned their attention toward him. One was caught with an electric wand for pausing too long and Sanji grimaced in sympathy. Looking away and turning his gaze to the guard and doctor standing below.

The guard below looked a little in awe and Caesar was merely smirking happily as he scribbled away on his clipboard, he was also murmuring something into the microphone, but Sanji couldn't quite make it out. He let out a relieved sigh, for now it seemed like he had done something right.

"Alright," Caesar announced, his clipboard now tucked under his arm, "Now get down."

Sanji looked down at the doctor skeptically, "How?"

"Jump, fly, fall. I really don't care; just come down." A menacing smile lit up the man’s face before he added snidely, "Be careful not to hurt yourself though. You do know what they say about a horse with a broken leg."

Now standing on the top and looking down he felt his previous nervousness come back and hit him full force. Ground below dancing dizzyingly as a rush of vertigo had Sanji’s head swimming. It was so high, and there was no possible way he could fly on his first try; he was still getting the hang of these wings. Not to mention this height would undoubtedly hurt him, and Caesar's threat was bouncing around the back of his brain.

If he fucked himself up would they put him down like an animal?

With resignation Sanji released a heavy sigh as he knew he had no other choice but to try; staying up on this platform defiantly was a good way to get himself in a heap of trouble. And who knows, maybe he would surprise himself like last time.

_After all, how hard could flying really be? He just had to flap his wings, right?_

Once more unfurling his wings, Sanji took a deep breath and stepped off the platform the same moment as he beat his wings. There was a moment where the strong motion of his wings kept him aloft, before gravity kicked in and he began plummeting awkwardly back to the ground.

Flapping definitely slowed the fall and for a moment he thought perhaps it wouldn't be too hard, but maintaining a constant, steady beat of his wings was harder than he thought and when one wing pushed down a little too hard he completely overbalanced and fell the last few meters to the ground.

Not able to recover well because of the bulk of his wings he landed on his side, crumpling one of his wings underneath himself. Partially winded, Sanji rolled over onto his stomach to catch his breath and off of his wing while giving a groan of pain.

_Fuck, that hurt._

Once he managed to get his breathing back to normal, he remained face down - braced on his elbows - not wanting to get up nor be forced to try again. A large gloved arm gripped his bicep and he was yanked to his feet by the guard. Sanji sighed irritably as he was shoved toward the expectant scientist. A shock was delivered to his arm and Caesar informed, "Alright, now try again."

Sanji scowled at Caesar as he stalked past and made his way to the post yet again.

~X~

After several hours of being forced to repeat the same painful activity, Sanji was returned to his cell, worn and beaten, but albeit mostly unscathed. As soon as the cage was locked behind him, Sanji was casting a glance at Toko's cell – only to find it empty.Lips tightening into a half smile as he supposed he at least he hadn't broken his promise; he'd be here when she returned. Although he was slightly worried. He'd been in the gymnasium for a while and had assumed she'd definitely be back by now.

Not bothering to walk the entire length of his cell, Sanji instead made it a couple feet before he dropped to his knees, and collapsed onto the ground. Cool stone pressing against his bruised form as he allowed his tired body and wings take a moment to recover.

Caesar had been ruthless.

Every time failed attempt seemed to make the man more irate, which caused the shocks from the guards to be delivered with strong frequency. Caesar finally let him return to his cell when he had been able to master gliding. Tomorrow he'd probably raise the bar and beat Sanji even more for failing.

Sanji shifted and flapped his wings lightly. He had to admit though, flying – gliding – had felt pretty amazing. It was a feeling he had never experienced before, and it had felt liberating. Being up in the air, in control of his motions; he was free. Like a bird soaring high in the clouds – it was having no restrictions. If he could actually learn to fully fly, he'd take off and never return to this place. He'd never touch ground again – he'd just fly and fly and fly...

"No. No, please!” A terrified voice echoed down the hall. “Let me go!"

No movement could be seen, nor a sound heard as the rest of the captives shied away to the corners of the cells, merely grateful that it wasn't them being dragged off to be tested on. Sanji slowly pushed himself up off the floor as the panicked voice neared.

A guard came into view, dragging a young woman behind him who was doing all she could to resist, but cuffs on her hands and feet made it almost impossible. He had a hand wrapped up in her purple hair, gripping tight as he led her down the hall. Her cheeks were streaked with tears which ran paths through the dirt that covered her face.

Wings unfurling with a furious snap, Sanji found himself on his feet in an instant thanks to the motion and another, unconsciously agitated flutter had his feet skimming the ground as he launched himself forward. Gripping the bars of his cell with a snarl right as the guard stopped outside his cage and raised an eyebrow curiously. The girl looked at Sanji desperately, her eyes first settling on the wings before meeting Sanji's gaze, silently pleading for his help.

"Let her go." Sanji snarled, hands tightening on the metal and wings flaring out behind him. He had trouble controlling them at the best of times, but being consumed by anger made it absolutely impossible to keep them from reacting instinctively to his emotions.

The guard snorted, "Make me."

Sanji shook the bars with a fierce snarl, the cage rattling ostentatiously, "She's a woman!"

Hand coming up to unabashedly grope her breast, he smirked, "I'm quite aware."

The girl jerked away from him, trying her best to break his grip, but he only tightened it and hauled her back to him. Tears broke out anew, staining her cheeks, and her sobs echoed down the hallway, reaching the other patrons. All of them most likely curling in on themselves in fear, knowing they would one day be in the same position.

With a dismissive jut to his lip, the guard turned away and began off down the hall, dragging the girl with him. Sanji shook the bars desperately, "I'll kill you, you sick bastard! I won't die until I see you fucking dead! You sick motherfucker, let her go!"

Sanji's throat was raw from yelling. It had been ages since he had had water; the last liquid he'd ingested was a cup of silty solution that he had that morning to choke down his medication. A faint taste of copper stained his tongue as he let his head fall forward to rest on the bars in defeat, the woman and guard long since out of sight.

Her terrified screams wouldn’t stop echoing in his ears.

With a painful swallow, he gently tried to soothe his sore throat. Banging his head softly against the bars as he slid to his knees mumbling, "Let her go..."

Eyes sliding shut, Sanji felt his wings follow the motion and slump morosely behind him as he was once more met with the usual, disturbing sounds of the prison. Screams from above mixing with the sobs from below, both pained noises mingling. The cacophony only broken by the click of the door at the far end of the hall and footsteps of a guard coming to claim another victim.

Looking up, he could see the men in the opposite cells, stiffen and huddle closer to the wall, hoping – wishing – that they would not be chosen. Sanji sighed, it was the only good thing about his development; he no longer had to worry about anymore surprise tests or experiments.

All he had to look forward to now was his wings.

A guard stopped outside the cell to Sanji's left and he turned abruptly to see the old man stand without any issue and walk toward the guard. His hands were cuffed without a fight and he calmly followed the man out of his cell without any guidance, or need to be pushed along. Just before he set off down the hall he turned to Sanji with a friendly smile, and gave a quick wink.

Something in his eyes seemed to twinkle before he turned and set off down the hall after the guard, humming a happy tune. Sanji remained on his knees watching the peculiar man walking away, utterly confused by what had just happened.

~X~

The sirens wailed loudly, giving a signal that someone had broken protocol and was now trying to leave the premises. Heads lifted from huddled forms, curious about who was lucky - or foolish - enough to break away from the guards. Sanji frowned and wondered which insane bastard had managed to find the right timing to run.

It was very rare, but it wasn’t unusual.

Every so often - whether by experimental means or otherwise - sometimes someone would have the strength to break free and make a run for it. There was never any certainty over whether or not they made it out, but Sanji could only remain pessimistic. Surely, if someone - anyone - had managed to make it out then they would’ve gone for help. 

Everyone else here would be freed by now.

Then there was the ‘Snatch’. As the prisoners and guards could be heard whispering about. People going missing from their cells without means or explanation. Sanji assumed that it was a simple clerical mix up. If there were even half as many people in here as Sanji had an inkling there were, then it was easy to assume that people got mixed up and taken to the wrong cell, or died and the paperwork wasn’t filled correctly.

Regardless, Sanji could admit that the fantasy itself was more than intriguing. A savior. An angelic hand reaching into this hell and plucking him out of it. After so long in the dark Sanji was not against humouring such a ridiculous and yet optimistic myth.

_Why not?_

For what felt like hours the sirens went off. Guards occasionally running past, or some prisoners being swiftly returned to their cells, but otherwise nothing else happened below. Eventually they sirens cut out and then everything returned to normal - the sounds of this dungeon returning.

Eyes shifting to the empty cell next to him, Sanji's curiosity piqued and he wondered if that old man was the one that attempted to escape. Though it seemed unlikely, given how old he was. That old man looked far too frail to have been able to fight off hundreds of guards and run miles through whatever terrain lay above as they would undoubtedly chase after him. Whether it was sea, desert, or forest; any escapee would be endlessly chased.

With a quick glance to Toko’s cell he rationalized that she hadn’t been brought back, so it was logical that the old man just hadn’t either. But as the hours passed and the cell remained empty; Sanji began to question if maybe Ray had been lucky enough to get out, or if maybe the poor old man had been killed in some sort of experiment.

_But what was with that cocky wink?_

After another couple hours the cell was filled with a new prisoner – a young man with blond hair, mechanical legs, and a haunted expression on his face that made him look utterly demented – and it was then that Sanji knew that Ray was not returning. Despite Sanji's morose feelings, Ray's encouraging smile was burned into his mind. And even moreso that confusing wink.

_Had that old man seriously been the one who tried to escape? And did he succeed? _

He must have; they wouldn't waste a perfectly good test subject by just mindlessly killing him.

_Could Sanji actually do it too? Could he break out and perhaps run away from this place?_

  
Sanji wasn't quite able to fly yet, but after today he knew he was more than strong enough now that he could take any of the guards in a one-on-one fight. And if he planned and timed everything right he might even be able to take out a couple guards before any of them knew what had happened...

_After that, then it would just be the matter of getting out of this horrifyingly huge building..._

Lifting his head from his knees, Sanji glanced at the blond who now had his face pressed against the bars to Sanji's cell, his hands extended, grasping for Sanji as he muttered something about flamingos. Weird mechanical legs creaking under him as blood oozed from the bandages where the metal had been fused with flesh. Sanji idly wondered how much of the man’s delusion right now was from pain killers, and how much was simply trauma from being in this place.

Sanji abruptly looked away.

Wings shifting restlessly behind him as his thoughts returned to Ray and the idea of escaping. He’d not actually given it a lot of thought before - since logically he had known he’d never make it out, but that was before he had gotten wings. Wings he now knew he could partially fly with…

“Pretty bird…”

With a grimace, Sanji supposed sitting for eternity next to this lunatic was only giving him incentive to get away. Plus the benefits if he succeeded were completely beyond comprehension; maybe not only could he get his normal life back, but he could do something to get revenge on this place.

_And if he failed...?_

Well, he supposed the worst that would happen is that they'd kill him. And honestly, they had long ago beaten that particular fear out of him. Now, the only thing he feared was to remain behind bars for the remainder of his days; to never again experience what it is like to be free.

Sanji was more than ready to fight for that.

_But..._

Sanji glanced at Toko's empty cell. He had made a promise; not only to a girl, but to a child. When Toko returned she would be expecting Sanji to be sitting in his cell waiting for her.

_What if she returned and found Sanji's cell filled with some deranged person like the blond in Ray's old cell?_

Sanji sighed heavily; he'd wait.

Without a doubt he was going to try and escape, but he owed Toko an explanation. And if he got out he could get help and come back and get her. However, until then he would wait for Toko. And while he did he would not let another moment go to waste. He would master flying, and he was going to make a plan.

~X~

Launching himself off the high platform, Sanji initially let himself fall before slowly opening his wings to allow them to catch the air underneath him. Slowly transitioning from a fall into a mellow glide as he swooped outwards and began circling the room as he glided towards where Caesar and the guard were waiting. Kicking his legs out at the last second as he prepared to land.

It was something he still didn’t quite have the hang of, but he was getting better at it. As he neared he flared his wings upwards to catch more resistance and slowed himself, righting his body as he tried to make sure he’d be making contact with the ground with his feet and not his face.

Ground getting closer and closer as he began flapping hard to steady himself further as his heel touched grass and he began running to catch himself. Momentum forcing him to sprint it out, but with the added help of his wings beating against him he was soon able to taper off into a gentle jog. Coming to a stop a little short of breath as the whole thing was still very frightening.

_How on earth did birds land so gracefully?_

Folding his wings behind himself, Sanji walked over to Caesar whom had his clipboard under his arm and was grinning broadly, "I have to say your sudden progression is very promising."

Sanji didn't say anything, he knew he wasn't expected to.

"I'm satisfied for now," Caesar motioned for a grunt to come get Sanji, "Tomorrow I expect you to reach the top post, and also have better landing capabilities. After that I believe our physical testing will be over."

Sanji’s pulse jumped at that, but knew better than to ask. Instead, he gave a small nod before the guards came over to him and began to reshackle him. Becoming lost in his own thoughts as he allowed himself to be led off and returned to his cell.

_What was going to happen to him after they were done physical testing?_

Sanji could only imagine. If his body was of no more use would they get rid of him, or kill him so they could cut him open and start doing more invasive testing. There were no limits to what they could mean to do to him next and suddenly his need to escape became more dire than ever.

Ever since Ray had escaped Sanji had been watching and plotting. He kept quiet, but his eyes and ears were busy taking in every detail of the path that he followed every day. Which levels had a heavy flow of traffic on the elevator, which doors had constant commotion behind them – whether it be the grinding of machines or the screaming of a human – and which hallways were almost always deserted. He would need to have perfect timing if wanted his escape to work.

The elevator doors screeched open and Sanji stepped inside, followed closely by the guards. The grunt tapped his key card and pressed for Level 145; a jerk and a whine set the lift into motion. Heading down as Sanji watched out of his peripheral as the guard then slipped the card back into his breast pocket.

There were over two hundred floors in this place, and while Sanji initially had assumed it to be a building, the size and the ventilation had him not thinking the whole place had to be underground, or at least partially. Judging by how the elevator went down when the guards selected a floor with a higher number, Sanji was pretty sure he needed to get to the first floor to get out.

And even if he was wrong and he was actually in a two hundred story building, then at least he’d be at an exceptionally high height at the first floor to fly off of and escape. Either way, he needed one of those card keys to get him there… and safe passage without being caught.

Gaze darting up to the ceiling of the lift, he confirmed the nine meticulously placed tiles on the ceiling; the corner ones each had a light in their centre and the middle one had hinges on its right side. A perfect route into the elevator shaft so that he would be able to ascend undetected.

There was a sharp ding and Sanji let his head drop to watched the doors open at his level.

Sanji walked out onto his floor, the guards followed along almost lazily behind Sanji; knowing the blond wouldn't dare run. As Sanji neared his cell he felt his stomach drop as a shape came into view in Toko's cell that was definitely not the little girl he had comforted that morning a week ago. A man with red hair lay face down on the stone, unconscious, but still breathing.

Toko's cell had been empty for several days, and while he had refused to believe that she was dead he had begun to doubt his resolve. The last couple steps Sanji took into his cell were numb and barely registered. He slumped down against the back wall of the cell and his legs sprawled out in front of himself. The grief hurt more than any electrical burn and all he could do was sit and regret the fact that he hadn't been able to keep her safe.

His eyes burnt from unshed tears, his body much too dehydrated to produce something so essential as water. But inside he wept. Both companions were now gone and Sanji felt that small ray of hope that had begun to shine obliterated by the cold and dark of this place. The pain in his chest was a mixture of sadness and hatred. Toko had barely had a start at life and then had it taken away.

_What about her parents? Did they just wake up one day to find their baby gone? Who was missing her?_

A guard stalked past his cell making his way to collect another victim and the hatred inside him began to burn to the point he was amazed he wouldn't catch on fire. He wanted to torture every single one of the them; every fucking scientist, guard, and janitor in this god forsaken hell. Make them suffer and feel only a fraction of the pain that every innocent person in here had felt. And then – only then – would he let them all die and suffer forever in hell.

Sanji's hands clenched at his sides and his nails bit into his palms. There was no longer any reason to keep him here; the one person he felt responsible for was now dead. The best he could do was to avenge her. He wasn't going to try to escape; he was going to escape, and get his revenge on this place.

~X~

Bare foot falls echoed down the cold, desolate hallway as Sanji was guided off to his last day of testing. Hands and feet cuffed, as usual, and the strange electrical device, as always, shoved warningly against his throat. He'd been oddly compliant that last few days, and at first the guards had been suspicious; giving him warning shocks, shoving him into doors, ripping out his feathers. But now they just seemed bored with his lack of response and seemed to think that he'd finally broken mentally.

The grip on the electrical wand was slack, and if he timed it right he could probably knock it completely from the guards hand before knocking him unconscious. With only two guards it was going to be almost too easy, but he planned for trouble on the upper levels.

Sanji wasn't a fool.

If he was going to try and escape he was going to do it perfectly; make no mistakes, and especially not end up back here. He had taken the last few days to survey the route to the training facility and figure out the exact spot to start his break away. The hallway they were coming to was perfect. It was almost always deserted; no cells, and within a quick sprint of the elevator. And thanks to Caesar, and all the other scientists, he now had some very handy tools to get out of this place.

They rounded the corner and Sanji took a calming breath as began a silent countdown in his head to begin his assault. First, he needed to disarm the guy on his left, after that it was just a matter of subduing both of them. And while they were strong, Sanji had a few advantages...

_3... 2... 1!_

Throwing an elbow up, he knocked the electric wand out of the guard’s hand at the same time he turned and slammed his head into the other man. Effectively knocking him against the wall to fall to his knees holding his face as blood spurted from between his clasped fingers and a muffled scream of pain echoed down the hall.

With the one guard temporarily incapacitated, Sanji abruptly turned to the guard that was still indignant over having his wand slapped away and was currently advancing on Sanji with a dark look. Darting back a few paces as the other chased him - not able to get far with his wrists and ankles each shackled to the other - but just enough to get the man to lunge at Sanji.

Darting forward, Sanji made to tackle him before ducking at the last minute and allowing his wing to slice through the air. The crown of the strong appendage hitting the other man directly in the throat knocking him down the hallway to land in an unconscious heap several meters away.

Stumbling into the motion, Sanji caught himself from tripping over his cuffed feet with a quick flutter of his wings. Righting himself once more as the guard with the bloody nose was back on his feet and bearing down on Sanji. His electric wand had gone missing, but he seemed intent to hurt Sanji nonetheless.

Crouching low as he advanced, Sanji’s hands clenched as he gifted the man with his own personal murderous look before he flapped his wings hard – as much as the narrow hallway would allow – bringing himself up and above the other man. He dropped forward, slamming the heel of his foot into the man's face and sent him crashing into the floor with a painful bang.

Dropping to the ground a moment later, Sanji stood over the unconscious man as the pool of blood from his still bleeding nose leached out across the floor. Wings twitching and Sanji’s chest heaving, less from exertion and more from the panic inducing thing he had just done.

_This was it. There was no going back now..._

With both guards unconscious, Sanji took a few frantic moments to search their bodies before happily coming up with the plastic card key hanging from the grunt’s breast pocket that would get him out of here. Getting the keys off his belt, Sanji hurriedly undid the cuffs on his wrists, feet, and neck while keeping a furtive glance down the hallway to make sure he wasn’t going to get walked in on.

The last cuff fell to the ground with a satisfying clunk and then Sanji took off sprinting down the hallway. Hopefully no one had heard the scuffle; he only had so much time until he would certainly be found out. Maybe he'd make it far enough that he'd actually be able to escape.

Skidding to a halt in front of the elevator, Sanji pushed the button as he could feel the blood begin to pump faster through his veins - skin tingling, the sound of it pulsing in his ears - if anyone was in the elevator coming down he'd be royally screwed. It would only take a moment for them to see a prisoner with no cuffs, and the bodies in the hall, before putting together what happened.

And maybe Sanji could take on another guard or two, but he didn’t want to press his luck.

A grinding squeal of metal announced the elevator, and Sanji waited with baited breath as they slowly slid open. It revealed a completely empty compartment and Sanji's optimism doubled as he darted inside and cast a final look at the two guards that still hadn’t managed to push themselves up off the floor.

_Maybe he could do this._

Once in the elevator, he slammed the grated doors shut, put the key in the proper slot and pounded his thumb repeatedly against the glowing '1' on the panel of floor choices. With a jerk, and a horrible grinding the lift began to rise and with it Sanji's nervousness.

Keeping an eye on the glowing lights of the floor levels he quickly set to work opening the ceiling panel above him. The floors passed one at a time – 125, 124, 123 – how could this place possibly have so many floors? Bracing himself against the walls, he gripped the metal grating behind him as he threw his heel up and kicked the middle tile on the ceiling. Hinges squeaking as the little door opened. 

A triumphant laugh left Sanji.

Jumping up, he grabbed ahold of the edge and brought his wings as close into his body as possible before pulling himself up onto the roof of the elevator. It took some shimmying as his wings made him a lot wider than he was used to and he didn’t want to accidentally get them caught in the moving gears in the elevator shaft above, but soon he was perched atop and out of sight as the elevator continued to rise.

Folding his wings tight against his body, Sanji kept the latch open and watched as the levels flashed by on the button board. Each time it neared a floor Sanji's heart would jump into his chest, and each time it passed the floor Sanji would swallow thickly – 54, 53, 52.

_Why was no one getting on by this point?_

36, 35, 34. 

Ding!

The lift came to a stop and Sanji quickly slammed the latch shut. Crouching low on the roof of the lift and pressing his ear to the door as he listened to the voices of the people getting on the lift. From the gruff tones he guessed they were guards; that was lucky, they were far too dim to notice anything amiss. The lift began moving again, continuing its journey up.

Pushing himself up, Sanji glanced up the long elevator shaft trying to see the top, but only able to identify the large I beams and millions of cables running along the walls – 17, 16, 15 – Sanji mentally counted the floors as he passed them – 8, 7, 6.

Ding!

The lift stopped at Floor 6 and Sanji could hear the guards get off at their stop. Sanji glanced up and saw just a few floors above – the Ground Floor level – beams of light shone through the grated doors and Sanji had to stamp down his excitement before it would overcome his rational.

Without bothering to wait for the lift, he smirked and jumped up, flying the short distance. Perching his toes on the edge of the platform, he jammed his fingers between the solid metal doors and wrenched them open to launch himself outside into the world.

Bare feet stumbling across cold dirt, Sanji skidded to a halt as he found himself in a small courtyard. Standing before a small building no bigger than a shack that housed the elevator he had just exited, and the entire area was boxed in with high walls giving the impression of a prison compound. Barbed wire twisted itself along the railings and a few guards were patrolling the area. Most seemed totally oblivious to his presence.

The two grunts standing guard by the entrance seemed frozen for a moment, looking at Sanji and probably wondering what he was doing on the upper levels. Without a second to lose, Sanji took their momentary shock to his advantage and crouched low, expanding his wings fully.

Exploding upwards with a hard snap of his wings, Sanji left the ground behind in a swirl of dust and a gust of wind so strong it managed to knock over both the guards that had been standing behind him. Rocketing into the sky, he managed to get well above the walls before he even had to unfurl his wings. 

At the peak of his jump - just as he was beginning to feel himself tipping back towards the ground - he spread his wings with quick snap and allowing an air current to catch underneath to steady himself. After that it became an all out race as Sanji beat his wings furiously, trying to get himself farther away. Desperately trying to get higher and farther as fast as he could.

Shouts and pandemonium broke loose below him as he cleared the walls and sirens began wailing much as they had when presumingly Ray had gone missing. Sanji didn't dare look back. All he knew was that the ground was steadily getting further, and he was getting higher, and he was free. 

There was enough time for Sanji to take in his surroundings and note that he was in a forested valley before gunfire began to ring out across the desolate mountain side - focusing his attention on a distant mountain several kilometers away and willing himself to reach it - as small black objects darted past him. Already they had begun firing on him – the sound of the successive blasts echoing out across the empty sky. Whether they were shooting to kill or stun was yet to be seen.

Another loud round was fired and pain lanced through Sanji's right wing. A quick glance confirmed he was hit – a small needle had pierced his wing – a tingling numbness beginning to spread through the skin. A sedation needle.

_Shit!_

Already he could feel the numbing effects spreading down his wing and nearing his body. All the testing that place had done on their own relaxants certainty paid off. Sanji wasn't going to last long, he knew it was only a matter of time before his entire body would be completely numb.

It seemed he wouldn’t be able to reach the mountain.

Changing up his plan, Sanji glanced down at the dense forest below which seemed adequate. There was a chance he could at least hide himself somewhere until the effects of the needle had worn off, maybe even long enough that the guards wouldn’t be able to locate him. Sanji spotted a small clearing in the sea of trees below him – it was a long shot, but much better than keeping airborne and risking a crash into the treetops.

Tilting his wings to allow himself to glide towards the ground, Sanji began picking up speed as the angle caused him to cut through the air even swifter than when he had been trying to maintain level. Shooting right for the clearing, Sanji waited until the last possible second before bringing his wings into his body, bulleting down to the ground. He dropped right through the gap he'd been aiming for, the ground began to come uncomfortably near and he spread his numb wings as much as they could to parachute and try and slow his body down for the inevitable impact.

Sparse branches and leaves whipped at his body as he kept falling towards the ground. Holding up his arms to attempt to shield himself as he angled himself back and kicked his feet out to ready for the rough landing. Feet hitting the ground hard, and he immediately tumbled over from the force of his landing. Rolling several feet before finally falling face first, cushioned by the somewhat soft ground and the mud he had landed in.

Laying still for several moments, Sanji let a small groan of pain slip past his lips as even the numbing sensation creeping up his spine wasn’t enough to soften the sting of pain ringing throughout his body. It was a miracle he hadn’t broken anything, but he supposed he had those damned experiments to thank for that.

As he slowly tried to get a handle on the pain currently shuddering through his body, Sanji could faintly hear an engine of some vehicle run by somewhere. Far enough though that it didn’t sound like it was heading for him. Face down – still in the mud – he lay quietly for a few moments as he tried to catch his breath and remain still so he wouldn't attract the attention of any nearby guards out on the hunt for him.

The distinct crunch of a branch a few feet away had Sanji's teeth gritting in frustration, and his hands fisting in the mud beneath him as tears threatened to spill onto his cheeks. Hopelessness and rage caused his body to tremble as he couldn't quite believe that this was the best he had managed. He had gotten this far only to be captured again...

_Fuck that!_

So far only half of his body was numb, and while the rest was soon to follow, that still gave him precious seconds to fight for his shitty life. And whoever was in front of him must have dropped their guard because neither a rough hand wrapped in his hair to pull him to his feet, nor an electrical wand was being pushed against the back of his skull. Which meant he had a chance.

With a steadying breath, Sanji turned his clenched hands until he was able to press them in the ground and pushed up with all his remaining strength. Body trembling so bad Sanji felt like he might fall apart. Getting a knee under himself, it was all Sanji could do to keep himself from slumping forward as he slowly looked up defiantly to accept his fate. However, the aggression melted from Sanji’s face as he was met with a stern expression, but it didn’t belong to a guard.

It was a man.

He stood before Sanji - tall and proud - dressed in rugged travelling gear. Army boots laced up tight with black combat pants tucked into them, and a ratty white shirt concealed under a leather jacket. A large rucksack hung from his shoulder, and a toque was pulled down low enough to mostly conceal his eyes. They watched Sanji steadily and Sanji just stared back. There was no way to read the look in the man's eyes, but whatever it was – it wasn't hostile. 

A wave of relief washed over him.

A human.

A real human being. Who wouldn't prod him with electrical zappers, eject him with needles and weird serums, or strap him down and beat him like an animal. Mind growing fuzzy, Sanji couldn’t fathom what on earth he was doing all the way out here in the middle of this empty valley, but right now he was Sanji’s last hope.

_Now, if only he could…_

“Gh…” Opening his mouth to plead to the man for help, all that came out was a hoarse grunt as Sanji horrifyingly realized that most of his body was now numb. A sharp look was all he received as panic began to force out terrified grunts as he tried again, “He...ghh.”

Vision beginning to fade, the image of the man in front of him became a hazy visage and Sanji felt his body begin to fall. Braced on an elbow now as he felt his weakened body sinking ever further into the ground as Sanji summoned the last of his energy - all of his desperation for freedom, his will to live, and his stubbornness to not let _this_ be where he died - using it to drag one of his hands out the mud.

The sticky substance felt as though it was attempting to drag him back down to the earth, but he persevered and, breaking it free, he raised it out toward the man, hand stretching desperately. It seemed like an eternity, and just before Sanji's head dropped forward as he lost consciousness, he felt a gloved hand grip his tightly.

TBC...


	3. Received

~X~

"Once you have tasted flight,

you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward,

for there you have been,

and there you will always long to return."

-Leonardo da Vinci

~X~

Sanji slowly came to. And just like last time he had fallen to the ground unconscious, it felt like ages before he was able to even attempt to open his eyes; taking in his surroundings through sensation alone. Body sore and stiff, he was laying face down on what seemed to be the softest surface he could ever remember, wings sprawled comfortably behind him and his lower half covered in a blanket. As the events before he passed out came flooding back, he began to panic.

_Where was he?!_

Wings springing open in panic, the blanket was flung off his body as they flapped anxiously while Sanji forcibly cracked an eye while at the same time trying to reign in his wings. Squinting around the room as his eyes accustomed to the bright lighting; the blurry outlines of furniture came into focus, but as nothing immediately threatening came into view, he managed to get his wings folded behind himself again.

Bracing himself on a weak elbow, he attempted to push himself up, only to discover that his body was lethargic and heavy; a few parts of him were definitely injured. The fall had taken a bigger toll than he had hoped. Getting his other elbow under himself, he was able to push himself up just enough to take a proper glance around the sparsely decorated room.

Aside from the bed he lay on, there was a desk just off to the side with piles of papers and other work on it, and a shelf sat on the opposing wall covered with various medicinal books and encyclopedias. The more he looked about, the more the area seemed like a make-shift doctor’s office.

As he scanned the rest of the room, his wings jerked when he noticed the man from earlier, sitting in the corner with a newspaper in hand. He watched Sanji calmly over the top of the paper, violet eyes assessing Sanji just as Sanji was him. After a long moment, the man closed and folded the paper, tossing it on his seat after having stood up and made his way to Sanji's bed side, all the while watching him carefully, "Awake, huh?"

Sanji hadn't gotten a good look before, but this was undoubtedly the same man. Same army boots and mangled white t-shirt, his hat however was missing and his neon green hair stood out starkly against his dark skin. Despite the tense aura around him, he was much less imposing when Sanji wasn't drugged and begging for help.

Placing his hands beside his ribcage, Sanji intended to properly push himself up when the man merely dropped a hand to his back, and all intentions of getting up were gone. The man's strength was inhuman. Though Sanji could tell that he had just placed a casual hand on his back, it felt as though a massive amount of weight had been placed on top of him. It didn't hurt, but the pressure that was applied was keeping his body immobile.

"Stay." He ordered, "You shouldn't get up so quickly."

"You a doctor or something?" Sanji asked, more than a little peeved at being forced down; the man had saved him, but that didn’t mean he liked being ordered around. And after all the time spent being manhandled and tested on, he was even less inclined to enjoy being restrained against his will.

"No. The man who looked after you is currently in his room," The man ran a casual hand through his odd green hair before shrugging, "Besides, it wouldn't be good to wake up and be traumatized further."

"Trauma-- What?" Sanji frowned, initial shock fading and finally being replaced by indignation as he realized that the man still had not removed his hand. And while he knew he should feel gratitude, he couldn’t help but get annoyed. Last thing he remembered he was running away from the testing facility he had escaped and this man had helped him, but that didn't help with any of his confusion. "Who are you? Where am I?"

Were they safe? What was going on? Was this guy even trustworthy?

"Please just shut up and let me explain.” The man let out an annoyed sigh, “It will be easier for both of us."

"Don't tell me to shut up!" Panic manifested itself in the form of fiery indignation, and Sanji scowled up at the other man, "I just got out of fucking hell, I almost died. I..."

"I know." The man interjected, giving Sanji a dark look.

All at once Sanji stilled, a chill running through him and his wings retracting in as there was a depth to the words that Sanji couldn't place; good or bad. It was unclear what exactly he was implying, but it was jarring enough that Sanji's anger at being pinned was put on hold and he glanced out of the corner of his eye and murmured, "What are you talking about?"

"I've been locked up in that place, so has the doctor that healed you." Green Hair muttered. His words causing Sanji's eyebrows to jump in surprise, before the man once more adopted that critical, calculating look as he added, "So, when I tell you to shut your trap, I hope you have enough understanding of the situation to respect that."

Sanji's initial shock over the man's omission was greatly overshadowed by the man's harsh words and now Sanji was insulted for a whole new set of reasons. Not exactly one for letting people talk to him like that, Sanji growled low in his throat as he began to try and wriggle out from under the man's hand.

"I'll respect shit." Sanji spat, glaring down at the bed as he desperately struggled to push himself up despite the pressure keeping him pinned. Wings shuddering angrily as he growled, "I've been kept captive for the last four years; I'm not trading one captivity for another. Now let me the fuck go!"

Forcing his wings open with as much force as he could, he managed to budge the man's hand a little, but the man refused to move and for all of Sanji's struggles it was completely useless. This angle was not conducive to freeing himself, and he felt akin to a pigeon pinned to the ground by a foot. If what this guy was saying was true, he had been found by people like him, but it seemed like he was in no greater a predicament. He was still being restrained, and he had no idea if he was even actually safe yet.

"I'm not keeping you 'captive'." Green Hair snorted, "I'm helping you. You'd be face down in the mud dead right now, if I didn't help you."

"So what?!" Sanji snarled, as he completely gave up on getting away and instead opted for glaring angrily at his pillow, "Now I owe you or something?! Fuck you."

The man sighed heavily and removed his hand just as the door to the room burst open and a small creature trotted in. Their previous argument put on hold as Sanji was allowed a moment to raise an eyebrow in confusion before the creature opened its mouth and informed, "I'm Chopper. I hope you're alright."

Sanji let out a yell and his wings sprang open as he tried to scramble away and almost fell off the bed. Papers went cascading across the room in a flurry as a wing had managed to knock over a stack that had been on the nearby desk, his other wing knocking his pillow onto the floor. He tried not to think too much about how he felt like a caged bird and instead focused on the talking animal - a raccoon? - looking up at him.

"The raccoon spoke. The raccoon fucking spoke." Sanji turned desperately to the other man, "You heard that, right?"

Both of them watched Sanji with mild forms of surprise on their faces, although somehow the raccoon managed to look more concerned than the man. Sanji eventually managing to get himself - and by extension, his wings - under control, but remained haphazardly braced against the wall as he watched them warily.

_What sort of weird world had stumbled into?_

“I’m… um, actually a reindeer,” The racoon clarified, looking a tad put out before asking, “May I ask your name?”

Once again the raccoon spoke, looking imploringly up at Sanji whom watched the creature while remaining completely silent. Actually taking in the animal’s words this time as he realized on closer inspection that the adorable creature currently walking on its hind legs did indeed have hooves instead of paws, and a pair of small antlers atop its head. Still it didn’t look like any reindeer Sanji had ever seen before.

“I… I…” Sanji floundered uselessly for several more moments as he was just now trying to wrap his head around what was going on and where he could possibly be. Only now were the man’s previous words beginning to sink in as he realized that this deer must have been made in the same place Sanji had. 

In awe, he remained crouched on the bed against the wall while watching the two and when Sanji didn’t respond, the deer eventually turned towards the man with super strength and looked up at him while asking cautiously, "Did he just wake up?"

"Yeah, he was energetic enough." Green Hair’s arms came up to cross over his broad chest as he shrugged, "Tried to get up right away."

"It's not that odd though, he’d have to be fairly fit and healthy to get away.” Sanji watched the exchange, even though he was still trying desperately to comprehend how the green-haired man could be having a conversation with a fucking deer. ”Do you think he'd been there long?"

Cautiously pushing himself away from the wall, Sanji crept to the edge of the bed while inspecting the deer through narrowed eyes. Looking between Green Hair and the deer - Chopper? - before eventually piping up with a scowl, "I'm _right_ here."

Sharp eyes flicking over to Sanji, the man raised an eyebrow, "Good for you."

Deciding the deer was a better option for conversation, Sanji turned towards Chopper and - ignoring how strange it was that he was about to talk to a deer - responded to his earlier question calmly, “It’s Sanji. My name is Sanji.”

“That’s wonderful. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sanji!” Chopper looked delighted as he clapped his hooves together in relief, “How are you feeling? I did my best with your injuries, but that was quite a fall you took; I was surprised you hadn’t broken anything! Zoro said you dropped right out of the sky!”

“I… I’m fine. Thank you…” Sanji trailed off in confusion as his gaze darted to the man currently watching him with that blank stare. A name now attached to the grumpy fellow, but the doctor's words causing him to look down at himself for the first time. Noting for the first time that he was clean and covered in bandages, a hand coming up to gently finger the gauze wrapped around his head. Suddenly feeling sheepish over his behaviour as he glanced back up and asked much more calmly, “What happened? Where am I?”

A hesitant look flickered across Chopper’s happy demeanour and he cast a glance up at Zoro, who nodded once before the deer turned back to look up at Sanji. Much calmer now as he murmured, “After you fell, Zoro brought you to our base and I patched you up. You’re safe now.”

“S-safe?” Sanji clarified, the word causing a well of relief to open up in his chest that yawned so wide it felt like it might swallow him whole. His body sagged back against the wall and his hands came up to cover his face as the emotion in his chest turned harsh and he felt like he might cry. Biting back a harsh sob that instead turned into disbelieving laughter, he laughed hysterically into his hands before gasping out, “Safe.”

Fuck… he hadn't realized how badly he needed to hear that...

Everything from his escape had felt like a dream. After years of being stuck in that place a part of him just couldn't believe that he had managed to get out and it was taking a considerable effort to convince himself that this was all real. Even now looking back on it, it was all a blur. He could hardly remember what the place he had escaped from looked like, nor the vast valley he had flown through, nor the sky…

Hands slowly lowering from his face, Sanji's eyes slid open as the notion piqued his interest and caused his wings to twitch. He had long ago tuned out the deer that was once more nattering away, and instead began glancing around the room looking for a window. There was none to be found. Turning back to Chopper, and cutting the deer off mid-sentence as he demanded, “Can I…”

Gaze darting between the two, he no longer felt like he was in danger of being kept hostage, but it still seemed like they had no intention of letting him run off alone. Glancing towards the door, Sanji sighed and looked back at the two, "May I go outside?"

"No, you’re still injured,” Chopper’s tone was soft but firm, “I would recommend tha--"

"Chopper." Zoro interjected, his voice sounding the softest and gentlest Sanji had yet to hear. He glanced at him and saw the look was directed at the small doctor, and Sanji was surprised to see such a tender expression was able to break through the man’s cold exterior. "You know what it means to everyone, once finally getting out of that place. He deserves it." At that, he turned to look up at Sanji and in an instant that cold, steady look returned, "Then he'll return and can finish recovering."

Despite the icy tone, Sanji couldn't stop the gratefulness from flooding his face, however that expression coupled with the unspoken threat made Sanji desperately want to kick the man in the face. But for the moment he couldn't care about anything else, all he wanted was to get outside and see what he had been dreaming of for the past four years.

Trying to not look too gleeful around these strangers, Sanji launched himself up off the bed only to find his footing foreign and weak. He wobbled slightly - colours dancing in front of his eyes - and reached out blindly, a lurching feeling rising in his throat as he found nothing and began to fall. A steady, strong body caught him and righted his stance as he blinked furiously to get everything back into focus.

A mocking laugh sounded close to his right, as the man grunted, "I said you shouldn't get up so quickly."

Choking back the urge to tell the man off, Sanji stepped away with a terse nod of gratitude as he steadied himself. Groaning as the worst of it passed, and he looked back to the two strange men currently watching him. Eyes flickering over the green haired man with masked disdain as he kept having the man come to his damn rescue. 

_How embarrassing..._

“It’s okay.” Chopper took a tentative step forward, making sure not to crowd Sanji as he gave a smile. Sanji starting to find the creature’s concern more than a little adorable, “Your blood pressure is probably just a little low; you’ve been asleep for quite some time.”

Pressing a hand to his head, Sanji closed his eyes through a frown as he really focused on getting the spinning to stop. Absently beating his wings to keep himself upright as he murmured into the palm partially concealing his mouth, “How long?"

"A week." Chopper informed him while watching him carefully.

"A week?!” Sanji’s eyes snapped open at that information, looking first to the deer that was watching him carefully and then next to the green haired man that was now watching the exchange with a neutral expression. Neither of them seeming surprised though as Sanji was taking in this new information. “But I…”

"It's completely normal." Chopper reassured, "Many people have a long sleep when they finally get out. When was the last time you slept on a real bed? Your body needed the rest."

"The last time I –?" Hand slowly falling to his side, Sanji’s wings flicked once before he admitted, "I don't remember."

A small flicker of something - sympathy maybe - flashed on the man's stoic face before he uncrossed his arms and made his way over to the chair in the corner. Pulling on the familiar leather jacket that had been thrown over the back of the chair before making for the door and throwing it open as he glanced back at Sanji expectantly, "I'll take you outside."

With a gracious nod, Sanji stepped forward and made his way past the man and out the door. Having to carefully duck to make sure he could actually fit his wings through, and once on the other side straightened them again - not to their fullest extent, but still fidgeting them as a week asleep had caused them to cramp and he was in dire need of a stretch - and he looked around a decent sized room.

The entire area seemed to be set up like a common room with several couches set up on one end which all circled around a small coffee table, and the other side sat a modest kitchen right next to a long table that could easily sit over a dozen people. The walls had some artistic paintings hung. And there was some furniture. The rest of the walls were covered in doors that lead off into further areas of this place.

It was then that Sanji began to notice that the floor, the walls, and the ceiling all had the same granite like texture to it, and when he glanced down at his bare feet, he confirmed it. The entire place was made of stone, or at the very least they must have been in a cave of sorts. Head snapping over to the man, he asked, "Where are we?"

"A few kilometers underground," The man explained shortly while making his way across the room to another door. Pushing it open and turning to wait for Sanji as he added, "It's so scouts from Impel don't find us."

Sanji frowned as he followed him across the room and through the door, leading into a twisting corridor. But as he walked along the hall he discovered that it was indeed true. Walls, floor and ceiling were all made of stone.

_Underground? How was that even possible?_

“I-impel?” Sanji echoed with a frown, wings fluttering in agitation as he wasn’t sure what the man was referring to, “You mean--”

That caused Zoro to pause, just long enough to cast a thoughtful look over his shoulder, before continuing with his long stride. Hands finding the pockets of his jacket as he clarified, “It’s the name of the place you escaped from. You didn’t know?”

“They didn’t exactly give me a brochure when I arrived.”

Some sort of noise escaped Zoro, but whether it was a laugh or a scoff Sanji was unable to tell. He decided to keep quiet and continued to follow after the other as he was guided further along. They both remained silent for the rest of the walk, and Sanji desperately tried not to think about how these tunnels reminded him of the ones in Impel.

But they were infinitely different.

There were fairy lights strung along the walls that bathed the enter place lit in a warm fiery glow, instead of the haunting luminescence of Impel, and the walls also had carvings of creatures and people and names and dates; other people that must have existed in this mountain had marked their existence on these walls. It made them a lot more comforting to look at the longer he stared. Eventually tearing his eyes away from the walls, he looked at the back of the man currently leading him through the mountain.

Past the fog of sleep and panic, Sanji was able to rationally evaluate the man and the situation he was currently in. Zoro had found him and brought him somewhere safe and out of the reach of Impel; for that he was undoubtedly, though annoyingly, in his debt. But none of that explained anything else; like why there were other escapees here in this mountain. Or why this hideout existed.

If this mountain system was really just a hideout for a congregation of victims from Impel, then there must be some purpose. And it also conjured up more insidious thoughts that Sanji wasn’t certain he wanted to even entertain the answers to.

Like why had these people not returned to civilization?

All of Sanji’s musings about this place were put on hold as Zoro came to a stop in front of a large steel door, Sanji skidded to a halt and flapped his wings once to keep himself from running into the other. Taking a step back as Zoro turned to face Sanji with that same stern frown that seemed ever present on his brow. Shoulders set resolutely with his crossed arms as he grunted, "A few things first."

Without a word Sanji just watched the other.

"This door leads out to the other side of the mountain, so there's no chance of anyone from Impel spotting us." Zoro withdrew a hand to jerk a finger towards Sanji's wings which twitched in agitation at being addressed, "That being said, no flying or drawing attention to yourself."

"I think that goes without saying." Sanji sneered, "I'm not trying to end up back in there."

Uncrossing his arms, Zoro flicked aside his jacket so it could expose the three sheathes at his hip. Fingers unclipping the middle, his pinky catching on the hook along the pommel as he pulled the large knife free with a flourish and brandished it towards Sanji with a warning glare. The glow of a fluorescent over Sanji’s shoulder glinting off the blade as Sanji looked at it warily before back up at the man currently threatening him.

"I won't let you put these people at risk." Cold eyes bore into Sanji, the blond easing back from the tip of the blade sitting uncomfortably close to his neck. "You take off, I'm putting this through your back."

Out of gratitude for being rescued, Sanji wanted to agree, however there was something about the other man’s tone that just set him off. Sanji’s face warping with a smarmy grin as he rolled his eyes, "Threats kinda don't work anymo--"

"This isn’t a game.” Zoro gritted out each word as he pushed the blade closer.

Scowl replacing his earlier levity, Sanji knocked the blade aside with the back of his hand while stepping forward. Zoro allowing the motion, but watching Sanji intently nonetheless as he pressed a finger against the other’s chest and clarified with a snarl, "You saved me, and I'm grateful for that, but don’t think that means you get to talk to me however you like. And don’t worry, I'm not about to go do something stupid to get myself caught."

They stood off for several long moments. Each staring at the other with intensity - Zoro looking like he was evaluating Sanji - before he finally eased away and the tension drained from his shoulders. There was still that permanent scowl, but his mouth was less down turned than usual.

"Then we understand each other." Zoro confirmed with a grunt. Sheathing the blade expertly and jerking his jacket back into place so it concealed the multiple knives. Turning towards the door after pulling out a set of keys to unlock it, saying nothing more on the matter as the latch clicked and then he was pushing it open.

After opening that door, Zoro stepped forward to where a curtain had been draped across the entrance and pulled it aside; light flooding the cavern which had Sanji shielding his eyes against the onslaught. Golden rays pierced his vision as his other senses were accosted by the sudden reality of the outside world. Wind whistled a musical tune, and he could smell the pine and sap that was brought in off the breeze, he could literally taste the freshness in the air.

Sanji exited the rocky cavern, coming out on a precipice overlooking a beautiful valley. The sun was setting far off in the distance and it kissed the horizon, painting the sky with supple oranges and smooth rouges. The clouds were fluffy and full as they drifted lazily across the unmarked sky. A sea of green lay before him, trees weaving and twining through the valley's base before coming up on the other side and lapping at the snow capped mountains.

It was like one of his dreams.

Like a painting done by a frail girl who was kept locked away from the world, the only way to experience the beauty of nature was by her own hand. Sitting alone in the darkness of her keep, day by day creating the world she one day dreamt to see for herself. Paintings that looked so real, that if you were to reach out toward it, you would be certain that your hand would extend and reached helplessly for the unrivalled beauty of the sky. That your hand would grasp desperately for those far off clouds, and yet never meet them. Her hand would reach out, her heart begging to feel those desires; and her hand would meet canvas, fingers brushing against the paint, confirming the surreal and horrible reality to her.

Forever it seemed Sanji had reached out desperately in his dreams; grasping for the clouds, wishing for the touch of wind, longing for the reality of nature. And each time his hand had met stone, and he had awoken on the dank floor, hand touching the rock.

And as he stood there, faced with this surreal beauty, fear clenched tightly in him, and suddenly he didn't want to be there. Didn't want to reach out and find that this was all just a dream and that he would awaken alone and crushed in his cold, dark cell.

As a light breeze swept around him and the smells of the world invaded him, he slowly reached out, hand trembling, but his hand met nothing. He couldn't touch the sky, nor drag his hand across the clouds. Hand trembling as he slowly lowered it and a soft tap on the top of his foot had him looking down. A shiny splotch marred the skin and the longer he looked the more he began to realize his vision was blurring.

Another two splashes joined the other.

Tears slowly flowed down his cheeks and he smiled, his happiness and relief overflowing as he dropped to his knees and his hands cradled his face. Palms of his hands working uselessly to try and wipe the tears away so he could once more see with clarity everything he had dreamed about for so long, but they wouldn’t stop even as a happy sob bubbled its way out of his throat.

Coughing it away through a few more disbelieving laughs, Sanji eventually was able to drop his hands to his sides and let out a relieved sigh. Still unable to believe this was all real. Hands dragging roughly through the grass about his knees, feeling the texture he'd wanted for so long. Wind swept across his face, drying his tears and he stared up at the graceful clouds that had transformed from vibrant red to the deepest of purple, pink happily tinging their edges.

Sanji remained kneeling there for god knows how long. Just staring out at the world and realizing that there was never going to be anything that would compare to it. Nothing was going to ever captivate him as much as this sight right now was doing to him...

Remaining where he was for a long time, Sanji knelt and slowly watched as the rays of sunlight were swallowed up by the mountain side. Taking in every glorious second as the sky slowly transformed darker and darker until there was just a thin lining of orange tinting the dark blue horizon and the stars began to break through. A dazzling array of glitter on an endless sky.

A scuffle of a boot on rock reminded Sanji that Zoro was still there and he sent a cautious look over his shoulder at the man whom he had kept waiting. Except the man wasn’t looking at him impatiently. He had his arms crossed and an utter look of contentment on his face as he watched the horizon as intently as Sanji had.

It was in that moment that he truly believed that his man - and everyone else here - had experienced exactly what he had. There was a reverence in his face that couldn’t be faked. Sanji was no longer suspicious of this man - these people - but instead felt like he had found the only people on this planet that could understand what this sight meant to him...

Turning back for one final look at the horizon, he watched as they last bit of baby blue along the mountain ridge faded away. Hastily wiping away any traces of tears - knowing it was probably pointless since the man had seen his breakdown earlier, but he was too happy to even be embarrassed about that right now - and stood, making his way back to the door where the super-human waited.

Sanji scratched the back of his head nervously, feeling somewhat guilty for his previous behaviour and malicious words. Zoro’s gaze was now back on Sanji as the blond looked down at his bare feet in interest and stretched his wings awkwardly before muttering softly, "Thank you."

The man cocked his head to the side before nodding solemnly, "You're welcome."

~X~

Another silent walk back into the mountain, and Sanji was returned to the room with the funny deer as Zoro snatched up his earlier discarded newspaper and excused himself. Sanji didn’t have the chance to say anything more before Chopper was hurriedly forcing him back onto the bed. Fussing over how long he’d been gone and immediately forcing a glass of water upon Sanji as he banging nattering away about straining his body and overworking himself.

Gratefully downing the cool liquid, he had been ignorant to how thirsty he had actually been and how long it had been since he had such clean tasting water. As he sipped at his second glass, he absently watched the little doctor fiddle about with things on his desk as his thoughts drifted over his situation.

Zoro and Chopper both seemed like good people, even if the former was a bit of an asshat; he felt like he could trust these people. They had saved him after all. And he was currently safe, which was something he hadn’t thought he would be able to count on so soon after escaping. If he was honest, he had been optimistic enough in his own escape plan to think he would get this far.

But now he was out.

And with that all he could think about was returning home. To his shitty apartment in the overcrowded city. To his job at the crappy restaurant where he got to cook all day. And to his dad - that he hadn’t even allowed himself to really think about these past four years - who probably thought he was dead…

The weight of his wings on his back had Sanji’s hand tightening around the glass in his hand as they were a sickening reminder that everything he wanted was still so far out of reach. He could feel the cup begin to crack so he set it aside on the desk and his hand came up to grip his own shoulder painfully. Tips of his fingers brushing at the soft feathers covering the muscular joint on his back that attached him to the broad wings behind him.

_How could he possibly go home with wings?_

Not only did he have no idea where he was, he had no clue whether Impel was even in America! He had no clue on how he was supposed to get home, and there was certainly no way he could return with _ wings _. It was abnormal, and he would likely just be putting himself in the perfect position to get captured once more. Whether he’d be dragged back to Impel, or somewhere else...

Sanji sighed as he reached the eventual, yet sad, conclusion; he couldn't return home. Not yet. Not untill he could get rid of his wings, and he was positive nothing short of amputation would do the trick. The thought made him feel a little sick and he mentally shook himself; that was a problem for another time.

He turned his attention to Chopper, who was coming toward him with a needle.

An image flashed through his head of a dingy metallic room, blood and grime smeared on the walls and a filthy doctors glove reaching for his arm, a grotesque needle poised in the other hand. Sanji yelled, wing flaring out to knock the deer away before he stood up on the bed so he had a height advantage over the creature. Hands shaking and body trembling, unable to shake the sudden adrenaline rush that had sparked through him.

"Stay the fuck away from me!" Sanji pointed accusingly, "Don't you dare touch me!"

Chopper, for his part, stayed fairly calm despite being knocked across the room which only served to unnerve Sanji more. Getting back up and dusting himself off before clamouring back up onto his stool, hooves raised as he implored, "Sorry, Sanji, I--"

_Fuck… Maybe he shouldn't trust these people..._

The door burst open, and Sanji was immediately on alert. Wings flaring open and body tensing, if Zoro was back to subdue him or start something then Sanji was more than ready to put up one hell of a fight. However all aggression drained out of him as a gorgeous young woman stood in the doorway with a cute, yet serious, scowl on her face.

"Sit down.” With a huff, she closed the door behind her and flicked several locks of her auburn hair over her shoulder. In one hand she held a large metal staff. For a moment Sanji was worried that she was going to hit him with it, but instead brandished a finger at him. “And calm down."

“It’s okay, Nami!” Hopping off his stool and running over, Chopper waved the woman down, “It was my fault; I should’ve been more sensitive.”

Soft brown eyes darted up to look at Sanji, and he immediately sat abruptly upon her earlier request. Brushing past Chopper, the ginger girl came over to him. She kept the metal pole firmly in her left hand and gave him a stern look before grabbing his arm and turning it over, exposing it to the doctor.

"Behave yourself." She scolded with a fond smile, "Chopper's just trying to help you. He needs a blood sample to make sure you’re alright."

Sanji would never argue with a lady, but as the doctor came near again and more memories began to flash through his head, he flinched and purposefully looked away. Keeping an eye on the beautiful woman, he ignored the feeling of the cold metal sliding underneath his skin and when the needle was retracted, he shuddered lightly but made no complaints.

"There you go." Nami crooned, releasing Sanji’s hand and giving his cheek a gentle pat, "Not too bad, right?"

"Nope." Sanji glanced up and found the ginger watching him tenderly and if he weren't completely mentally scarred he might've taken the chance to flirt with her. Sanji gave a small smile, "Not that bad."

"I know it's kind of hard." The girl reassured, "But if you want to get better you're going to have to trust Chopper. And everyone else."

"I understand... uh… Nami?" Sanji fumbled as he wanted to make sure he heard Chopper correctly.

"Yup." The girl nodded, "And once Chopper has cleared you, there's a bunch of people who would like to meet you."

"Who?"

"You're not the only one that we’ve helped from Impel.” Chopper smiled, “There's a bunch of people here like you and me."

"That's right." Nami grinned, one arm coming to cross under her chest casually, hand tucking under the arm that still kept that metal pole planted by her side. She arched a brow while looking Sanji up and down, "Though most of us were rescued. I'm impressed that you were able to get away, although it's probably a lot easier to get away when you have wings."

That earned a small chuckle and a nod from Sanji, before he asked, "You were rescued?"

“Yeah, I was there for two years before I got taken by the ‘Snatch’.”

“Hold up.” Hands coming up and waving about in an attempt to get the girl to slow down, he waited until she stopped talking and looked at him with a curious expression. Leaning forward with eyebrows raised as he demanded, “That’s real? I thought it was just a story for like… false hope. Or to explain the guards ineptitude.”

“Oh, it’s very real, but keeping it a rumor is how we want to keep it.” Nami switched her staff into her other hand as she leaned towards Sanji. A conspiratorial whisper on her lips and a sly wink on her eyes, "It's really us breaking others out."

"Wow..." Sanji marvelled. Words trailed off as he would never have imagined that such an unrealistic rumor was actually true. Looking up at Chopper and Nami, and glancing between the two, “How many others?"

"A fair few." Nami grinned, "We haven't rescued many because it is still a very dangerous, but we do what we can."

"That's still amazing.” Sanji commended both of them, and the reason this base was here was beginning to make a lot more sense. Trying not to sound like he was prying as he asked, “So, why are you guys doing all of this?"

Nami glanced down at Chopper who looked up at her with a helpless shrug, she arched a brow and the deer made mocking grumpy expression that Sanji had never seen on the adorable doctor before. Dropping the look, Chopper shook his head and Nami rolled her eyes and let out a huff which blew aside a few stray bangs. Turning back to Sanji who watched them expectantly, albeit with mild confusion at their sudden silence.

“That’s not something we can talk about right now,” A sincere frown wrinkled her brow. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and asked, “I hope you understand?”

“I…” Sanji mumbled, “don’t…”

It seemed that everyone here was being very close lipped about why they were in this mountain and what was happening with this Impel. There was clearly something big going on; though what it was, he couldn't guess. Sanji found it incredibly infuriating, but he was safe and being looked after by kind people, so for now he'd play their little game.

Mustering up a sweet smile, Sanji nodded, "Of course."

"Alright, well you need rest." Nami smiled, "Now can I trust you'll behave while alone with Chopper?"

"Absolutely." Sanji smiled sincerely and gave a mock salute.

“Good.” Her honey sweet laugh at his behaviour turning his insides to butterflies and reluctantly watched as she began to leave. Giving Sanji an adorable little wave before she headed out the door, "Get better!"

Biting back a wistful sigh, Sanji couldn’t believe his luck that he’d managed to rescued by not only such an eclectic group of people, but the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Even more than wanting to know the truth he wished she would stay and keep him company. Definitely a better bedside companion than that grumpy green-haired man.

"Here." A bright voice and a tug on his pant leg had Sanji glancing down to see Chopper at his feet, a clean pair of pants and shirt in his hooves, "I thought you might want some clean clothes.”

Taking the clothes gratefully, Sanji returned the deer’s large smile and then immediately began divesting himself of his old, dirty pants - having long since lost any moticum of modesty while being stuck in Impel - before pulling on the softest pair of sweats he could ever remember wearing. He quickly tied a knot with the strings so they wouldn't slide off his hips and then picked up his shirt. As he was putting his hands into the sleeves he looked down at his body and froze.

It was something so obvious, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t realized it before, but as he stood there with the shirt half on he felt rather silly. Lowering his arms, he began folding the shirt before handing it back to the deer as he murmured, "Sorry, but I don't think I can wear this."

“What? Why?” Chopper cocked his head in confusion before his eyes widened, "Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, Sanji! That was thoughtless of me."

Tears started to well up in the deer’s eyes and Sanji started, not expecting the little guy to take it so hard. Dropping to a knee, Sanji waved his hands about earnestly as he rambled, “Hey, hey, hey, don’t worry about it. _I_ even forgot that I have wings and they’re attached to me.”

“Still…” Hugging the shirt close to himself, Chopper sniffled as he wiped away a tear. “I feel terrible.”

Shoulders slumping and fond smile replacing Sanji’s previously anxious one, he reached out and ruffled the top of the deer’s head. Letting his hand eventually fall away as Chopper looked up at him and Sanji grinned, “How about we call it even for me knocking you off the stool earlier?”

He seemed to actually ruminate on it for a few moments.

“Okay, deal.” Chopper smiled before it faltered, “But I still don’t have a shirt for you; you’ll be cold.”

"It's fine." Sanji grinned, stooping down to take the shirt from Chopper and setting it aside on the desk. Flicking his wings for emphasis as he explained with a chuckle, "These feathers will keep me warm."

Chopper seemed skeptical as he clamoured back up onto his stool. Taking a seat as he watched Sanji, "You sure?"

"Definitely." Sanji curled his wings around himself, "See? I'm plenty warm."

Besides, it had been ages since he had worn a shirt and he had gotten fairly used to it. Not to mention once outside of the chill of Impel everything felt remarkably humid and warm. His wings were merely an added bonus to keep him more than comfortable.

"Alright..." Chopper murmured, definitely not looking convinced, but at least looking like he wasn’t going to argue. Scooping up several bandages, gauzes, salves, and other medical equipment as he turned to face Sanji, "Anyway, are you okay with me checking over your bandages? No more needles though.”

Taking a seat on the bed, Sanji nodded, "Go right ahead."

Hopping from stool to bed, Chopped began scurrying around him and inspecting the bandages he had put on Sanji while he had been unconscious. Sanji watching calmly as the deer removed a few that he wanted to redo, while leaving a couple patches that were still fresh. It was a noticable difference with how Chopper fussed over him, when the doctors in Impel picked and prodded at him it felt like he was just another experiment, whereas with Chopper he felt like a human. 

"Your body is incredibly healthy for being in there for so long." Chopper ran a hoof over Sanji's forearm as he finished inspecting the bandages he had just finished reapplying to a nasty gash on Sanji's upper arm. Apparently breaking through a forest canopy and crashing into the ground had torn him up a bit more than he had realized. "It's amazing really."

"I used to be really malnourished." Once Chopper let go, he raised his arm and flexed it a few times to make sure the bandages were comfortable, and not too tight. Giving his arm a final twist to inspect the deer's flawless handiwork, Sanji glanced up and admitted, "I was skeletal a few weeks ago."

"Really?" Hopping from the bed back to his stool, Chopper took a seat while looking up at Sanji intrigued, "What happened?"

"Well," Sanji muttered, absently scratching at the stubble on his cheek as he remembered the unsettling events he had woken up to, "they had all sorts of IV's drained into me; different colours and stuff. Then I was knocked out for a good few weeks while my wings grew. I woke up and my body was like this."

"Hmm." Chopper nodded thoughtfully, "They must have been giving you some sort of large protein supplements or control steroids. That's the only way I can explain such fast muscle growth."

At the mention of 'steroids' Sanji frowned, hand stilling as he glanced warily at the deer, "Does that mean my body will start failing or something?"

"Oh no." Chopper shook his head, "You'll be fine. As long as you keep up a healthy diet. Though I will lay out a meal plan for you and some vitamin supplements. Your body is still not used to food so we will have to slowly wean you off of medication and back to solids. But with your rejuvenated body it should be in no time."

"Sounds great.”

“I don’t want to keep you cooped up for too long,” Chopper explained, “but I would like to make sure that you’re completely healthy before I let you leave. I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

“You’re too sweet.” Sanji smiled gently, “You must’ve been an incredibly doctor.”

Sanji hadn’t been certain that deer could blush, but Chopper seemed to manage it as he began to swoon hopelessly on the stool. Hooves hiding his eyes as he mumbled to himself, and Sanji watched the display fondly as he realized the guy had no clue how to take a compliment.

As Chopper continued his flustered squirming, Sanji began thinking about the doctor’s words and his previous thoughts on leaving returned to him. If he wanted to go home then he’d need to get rid of these wings as soon as possible, and while he wasn’t too eager to be cut into, Chopper at least seemed like a trustworthy doctor of some kind. The least he could hope for was some good news regarding them.

“Hey, Chopper.” Words coming out tentative and soft, they seemed to snap the deer out of his embarrassment as he turned to look at Sanji with a much more serious expression. Waiting as Sanji gestured over his shoulder towards his wings before asking with bated breath, “Any chance of you getting rid of them?”

A silence hung between them for a long, heart stopping moment. If Chopper said no then that would be Sanji’s last hope gone, he’d have to come up with a completely new plan on how to possibly get home unnoticed. Or possibly even getting rid of them himself; he shuddered at the thought.

“Maybe?” Chopper bit his lip, "In theory, it would be like amputating a limb, but I have no idea what they might've done to alter your body structure and without knowing you'd be putting yourself at risk. Not to mention, I’ve never amputated such a massive limb before, each of your wings takes up such a large percent of your body mass I don’t know if the sudden loss would be too much of a shock on your system..."

"Yeah," Sanji resigned himself with a sigh, it hadn't been like he had expected anything, "I figured as much."

"I really am sorry, Sanji. I know how much people want to get their old bodies back once they get out of Impel." A sadness tinged the small deer's voice, and it didn't take a genius to know what he was talking about. Sanji wanting to reach out to comfort the guy, but unsure of what to say. Heaving a sigh, Chopper continued, "There's only so much speculating I can do. What I would really need is your file from Impel. Then I could see what they've done to you and figure out how to fix it."

"Ah." Sanji made a soft noise of understanding as Chopper was clearly beating around the bush, "So, basically, we're stuck like this?"

"No," Chopper quickly defended, "Not necessarily."

"What you gonna do?" Sanji snorted, "Break into Impel."

"Um..." Chopper froze, looking extremely uncomfortable, "I'm not really allowed to tell you that yet. Rayliegh has to meet with you and make sure you're trustworthy. Then we can fill you in on what's going on but--"

Eyes widening as everything suddenly clicked into place, Sanji couldn’t believe hadn’t thought of it before now. With all the secrecy and hiding - the rescuing of people! - it was the only logical reason why a bunch of people who had escaped from such a hellish place would remain so close to it.

"Of course." Sanji interrupted. Mind already running wild with all the new possibilities, "I knew it was strange for this base to be here! You guys are going to break in, or take it down or something, right?"

Wide eyes stared up at him and Chopper mouthed wordlessly, at a loss for what to say. Eventually, he hung his head in defeat, "Yeah, but you aren't supposed to know yet."

"Don't worry." Leaning back, Sanji grinned as he couldn’t contain the new ray of hope that had been sparked within in with his knowledge. This was going to allow him the chance to fix everything. "Who am I gonna tell? Anyway, I have a need to break in there myself, so this works out perfectly."

"Why do you need to break in?"

"I need to find someone," Sanji admitted, "And I guess also get my file so I can fix my body."

"I'll definitely make sure I can do everything I can to help you." Chopper grinned, "I'm sorry about the secrecy, but just know that I do trust you."

"You saved my life and looked after me." Sanji's eyes softened, a yawn interrupting his sentence as he added, "There's no reason not to trust you."

Pausing at Sanji’s yawn, Chopper’s doctor mode returned with interesting suddenness. Clapping his hooves together expectantly as he ordered, "Alright, I think it would be best to get some more sleep. I'll go get some soup started and bring you some when it's ready. Then we can see how your body does with something that simple in its system."

"Okay." Sanji nodded, "But can I go to the bathroom first?"

"Of course." Chopper nodded toward the door at the back of the room, "Just in there."

Sanji wandered into the bathroom, knocking himself slightly off balance when he forgot about his wings, clipped one on the side of the door and almost face planted into the stone floor. After righting himself and trying to hide a blush from the odd doctor, he went to the toilet to relieve himself. The bathroom was pretty barren; only inhabited by a toilet, sink, and mirror.

_How was there plumbing this far underground?_

Passing by the sink he noticed that it was actually made from stone. The basin jutted out from the rock wall and there was a hole in the stone wall above where a constant flow of water drizzled into the sink, and another hole in the sink that allowed the water to flow back into the wall.

_Perhaps it was runoff from the mountain that had been redirected?_

Once done relieving himself, he went to the sink. Part of him felt horrified at the amount of water that sluiced down the drain and was being wasted, but he rationalized that it was probably just from a creek outside. He cupped his hands and gathered a fair amount of water into his hands and splashed it on his face, relishing in the refreshing feeling.

Sanji looked up into the mirror and froze.

He had changed. A lot.

The last time he saw himself clearly he had been nineteen and had still looked so childish. Now his jaw and cheekbones were more pronounced – partially from being starved – and his hair had gotten ridiculously long. When before he had had a crew cut, it was now to about his shoulders. He also had a large amount of stubble; and though Impel had kept the subjects fairly well shaven so hair would not get in the way; he still needed to shave. Running a hand across his jaw to inspect it, he hadn't realized it had gotten so out of hand.

Leaning in towards the mirror, he slid his hand up and brushed his bangs out of his eyes to find that they were the same blue that he had known his entire childhood. Despite the stranger that was currently staring back at him, those eyes were comfortingly familiar. Bright, and blue, and alive…

Something odd caught his eye and he frowned, eyes narrowing as he pushed his bangs further up his forehead. Staring at his eyebrows for several pointed moments as he realized that his eyebrows were different, not only longer, but curly.

Pushing away from the sink with muted horror, his heel landed on several stray feathers trailing on the floor, he let out a pained scream as he tumbled back into the wall and fell to the floor in a state of both panic and pain. Bracing himself there as he not only tried to rationalize what the hell had happened to his eyebrows, but also tried to make a mental note to get a grip on his wings so he stopped tripping over them and knocking everything over.

The pitter-patter of hooves resounded from the other room, and a moment later the little deer came skidding into the bathroom, face riddled with panic, matching Sanji's look of horror. "What?! What is it? Are you okay?!"

Still slumped against the wall, Sanji pointed at his eyebrows, "What the hell is this?!"

"Oh..." Tension visibly draining from Chopper’s shoulders, he trailed off nervously, "I thought you knew about that..."

"Knew?" Sanji gestured wildly to his face, the hysteria causing his voice to go an octave higher, "Do you think I'd be so calm if I knew that my eyebrows were curly!"

"It's actually not that bad.” Chopper reasoned, “With your long hair, they are mostly hidden anyway, plus they kind of seem... you."

Pushing himself to his feet - with a bit of struggle thanks to his wings and the cramped bathroom - Sanji groaned as he looked into the mirror and rubbed hopelessly at the swirl, "This is the last thing I need."

"I'm sorry." Chopper mumbled quietly. Sanji glanced at the small deer who was now brushing his hoof guilty at the floor. "I thought you knew."

"Hey," Wings fluttering guiltily, Sanji forced out a grin, feeling terrible for making the innocent little deer feel at fault. He’d known this guy all of ten minutes and already he couldn’t stand to upset him. "You are the last person who has to be sorry. I was just shocked."

"I'll see what I can do about them." Chopper reassured as he waved Sanji after himself, "They are definitely a side effect of some sort of chemical experiment. Come over and let me take a quick look."

Giving himself one last look in the mirror, Sanji followed after and found himself on the bed once more as Chopper inspected the brow with care. He finally pulled away with a huff, "It should be fairly easy to cure. I'll need to make an anti-androgenic remedy to cancel the growth of hair in that area. Until then I would recommend not shaving it; I’m not sure if agitation might cause more to grow."

Sanji sighed, this was the last thing he needed. But he assumed that Chopper was right about one thing; his hair was convenient enough to hide the odd brows. He began fidgeting with his bangs until he was able to sweep them across his brow to hide his left eyebrow, and then left the bangs along the side of his face hide as much as he could of the other one.

"Thank you Chopper. Really."

"Just get some rest now, idiot." The word said with a fondness and a giggle that had Sanji smiling. Watching as Chopper blushed and hopped down from the bed, "I'm going to get that soup started."

Chopper left and Sanji lay down on the comfortable bed once more. His stomach grumbled lightly at the mere thought of delicious broth; though his mind couldn't quite remember what it would taste or feel like. But regardless anything other than pills would be absolute heaven. Crossing his arms and resting his head, Sanji shut his eyes while he waited, and for the first time in over four years, he fell into a peaceful slumber.

TBC...

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:  
[1] Endolymph; a fluid within the inner ear that is linked directly to the hearing and balance of the human body. With the added weight of Sanji's wings his balance would need to be corrected by higher levels of endolymph.  
[2] Testosterone; a steroid hormone that increases muscle mass. With the added weight of Sanji's wings his body needed a larger muscle mass to stay up right without falling over.  
[3] Biphosphonates; a class of drugs that help with osteoporosis(bone loss). In recent studies it has been discovered that it can not only strengthen, but help grow bones. This is the main drug that attributed to the growth of Sanji's wings.  
[4] Teriparatide; a class of drug that also helps with osteoporosis(bone loss). Helps increase bone mass. This is another drug that helped in the growth of Sanji's wings.  
[5] cDermo-1; an avian embryo that is responsible for the growth of feathers and scales. Obviously this was used to grow the feathers on Sanji's wings.


End file.
